LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 



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Shelf Ai&„. 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



kR 12 1RR7 



THE 



J^VAN'QELicyvL 'Pa^tof( 



BY 



REV. EDWARD T. HORN, A. M., 

Pastor of St. John *s, Charleston, S. C. 




PHIL A DELPHI A 

G. W. FREDERICK 

1887 



THE USHARY 
OF COHGEESS 

WASHINGTON 



£*fo7/ 



Copyright 1887, 
Bv G. W. Frederick. 



TO 

LOUIS MULLER, D. D., 

Pastor of St. Matthew's, Charleston, 
The eldest of my Colleagues, 

TO WHOSE WISE UNSELFISHNESS 

is due 

The Unexampled Harmony 

of the 

©erman and (&n$lx$lx 3£uthnm* aJottgregatio u* 

OF THIS CITY. 



In Preparation. 



A MANUAL OF LITURGICS. 

A MANUAL OF CHURCH POLITY. 



CONTENTS. 



Preface, 13-29 

I. The Pastor's Conversa- 
tion, 33-46 

II. The Call, 47-62 

III. The Beginning of the Pas- 

torate, - 63-74 

IV. The Pastor Preaching, . 75-84 

V. Holy Baptism, 85-98 

VI. Preparation for the Holy 

Sacrament, 99-121 

VII. The Holy Supper, . . 122-137 

VIII. Marriage, . . .y. . 138-145 

9 



io Contents, 



IX. Confirmation and Cate- 

chisation, 146-157 

X. Seelsorge, 158-167 

XI. House Visitation, . . 168-173 

XII. Visitation of the Sick, 

etc., I74-J9 2 

XIII. The Dying and the Dead, 193-198 

XIV. Discipline, 199-220 

XV. Sunday Schools, Collec- 
tions, etc., .... 221-229 

XVI. In the Community and 

the Home, .... 230-241 

XVII. The End of the Pastor- 
ate, 242-245 



Contents. 1 1 



Indexes, 247-257 

1. Topics. 

2. Passages of Scripture Cited. 

3. Citations of the Confessions. 

4. Citations of Kirchenordnungen. 

5. Authors Cited. 



PKEFACE.. 



The Questions and Answers which form 
the bulk of this book are founded on the 
Amerikanisch- Luther ische Pastoraltheologie 
of Rev. Dr. C. F. W. Walther, of St. Louis, 
Mo. His book is well-known to the majori- 
ty of our pastors who read German. It is a 
work of 440 pages, in which he assembles 
and elucidates the decisions of the fathers of 
the Reformation, on matters which perplex 
every pastor more or less. For more than 
ten years I made use of it and, discovering 
its great value, I have often wished it could 
be Englished. Finally, in the comparative 
leisure of a summer in which I could not 
leave the city, I drew from this valuable book 
the answers to a series of questions, intended 

13 



14 Preface. 

at the same time to outline our pastoral the- 
ology and to give a fair presentation of the 
book from which they have been taken. 
These I read to a pastor of great experience, 
who concurred in my estimate of their worth, 
and assured me that I had properly set forth 
the sense of the originals. These Questions 
and Answers I then published in the Luther- 
an Visitor, under the caption Ad Fratres. 
I expected them to excite surprise and 
perhaps contradiction ; but they were wel- 
comed by my brethren, and from every 
side came requests for their publication in 
permanent form. Accordingly, I submitted 
them to Dr. Walther, who kindly consented 
to their publication, and assured me that I 
had rightly set forth his meaning and the 
meaning of his authorities ; while with equal 
kindness he indicated his dissent from two of 
my positions. 

I then addressed myself to a careful revi- 
sion of the whole, including a verification oi 



Preface, x 5 

the quotations. I added notes from my own 
reading, especially in the Kirchenordnungen 
of the Sixteenth Century, and in Hartmann 
(kindly loaned to me by the Professors at 
Newberry, S. C.)> and prefixed to some of 
the chapters book-lists taken in the main 
from Zockler's Handbuch der theologischen 
Wissenschaften, which will prove useful, I 
hope, in leading the student further in new 
paths which this little book may open to him. 
It will appear, therefore, that while it 
would be dishonest in me to hide the obliga- 
tions of this book to Dr. Walther's, and while 
it will be glad to have the benefit of his au- 
thority, he is not responsible for all its state- 
ments. In some cases I have directly ren- 
dered his words and added the letter (W.), 
that the reader may know in these especial 
cases that Walther says thus ; all through the 
book I have leaned on him ; but in the cases 
which he proposed to correct, for instance, I 
recognized the propriety of his correction and 



1 6 Preface, 

have modified my statement, yet without 
submitting the modified statement to his ap- 
proval. It seemed good to me that the po- 
sitions of this book should be tried simply on 
their truthfulness and fidelity to Holy Scrip- 
ture. 

I am conscious of a desire to serve the 
Master and His Church in the publication of 
this book. I believe it sets forth the Scriptur- 
al principles of pastoral fidelity, and sets 
them forth in a shape and way more conven- 
ient than I have found elsewhere. I propose 
to show the , answers which Holy Scripture 
gives to questions which many a pastor asks. 
A master in Israel has told me that it would 
have saved him much perplexity and many 
mistakes to have known these things at the 
beginning of his pastoral service. 

The book claims to tell what are the Luth- 
eran principles of pastoral duty. It gives its 
authority for each decision. Therefore it has 
an historical as well as a practical value. 



Preface. 1 7 

Even those who say that new wine is better, 
ought to be willing to taste the old. By set- 
ting forth that of which I can confidently say, 
This is Lutheran Pastoral Theology, I afford 
to those who would either adopt or reject it 
an opportunity to see what it is, and to com- 
pare it on the one hand with the Holy Scrip- 
tures, and on the other with "the present 
distress.' ' 

A system of Pastoral Theology, endorsed 
and practiced by such men as Luther, Bugen- 
hagen, Chemnitz and Spener ; especially if 
it is still greatly admired by the most evan- 
gelical teachers of the Fatherland, and gov- 
erns the practice of faithful pastors there ; and 
if, again, it has fallen into disuse anywhere 
only because of the disorders of war and the 
temporary triumph of rationalism ; must be 
of great interest to those who would conjoin 
true practice with a pure faith. And if that 
system seriously differs from the Pastoral 
Theology in vogue, it demands [the study 01 



1 8 Preface, 

every right-minded and open-hearted pastor. 

Besides, I could not disregard the request 
of many, whose approval is very dear to me. 
It is because they assure me that the book 
will do good, that I have been eager the 
Church should use it. And I confess a great 
opinion of its value. The ideal it presents 
has quickened my own sense of responsibili- 
ty as a pastor. It illumines and establishes 
the pastoral relation between a pastor and 
each of his flock, and his responsibility for 
each, and by drawing from the words of the 
Lord or His Apostles advice concerning the 
details of the administration of the Word and 
the Sacraments it helps to show which among 
things lawful are expedient, and which are 
not. 

I trust no one will think I believe a man 
can learn to be a pastor out of a book. The 
pastoral art, like every other art, demands 
an especial aptitude ; and this aptitude is the 
resultant of very many delicate traits. A 



Preface. l 9 

man to be a good pastor must be true and 
devout and obedient and tender. And he 
must have tact. Tact cannot be taught by a 
book. But if books will not suffice for a man 
who has not tact, neither will tact suffice 
without books. There are geniuses who 
know by intuition what others labor to ac- 
quire ; and such do not need and cannot use 
the instruction which the ordinary man needs: 
yet, besides that the geniuses are infrequent, 
we ought to remember that unbridled genius 
is dangerous. The duties of a pastor are not 
a field for experiment and invention. Origi- 
nality is not as useful here as obedience. 
And even genius, when sanctified, will be 
thankful for the petty rules, the routine, the 
discipline, by which it is curbed, controlled 
and guided. The matter is decided for us if 
the Lord and His Apostles have left for us 
any contribution to Pastoral Theology. They 
have, in their example ; and they have added 
wise counsel, which ought to be observed to 



20 Preface. 

the letter. This makes Pastoral Theology a 
positive science. Nor ought we to underrate 
the comments of the fathers. I have pro- 
found respect for authority. It is indeed a 
great thing that a saint or doctor of the 
Church or a Reformer thought thus or so. 
Their teaching, their faith, and their practice 
are to be understood, each in the light of the 
other. It is instructive to see how they pon- 
dered the questions which some earnest men 
now call little. I greatly doubt whether we 
dare throw away the body of their traditions. 
The Church of the Living God is the pillar 
and ground of the truth. We must try every 
part of its structure by the Holy Scriptures, 
before we declare it to be worthless. And I 
need only remind the pastor, who sometimes 
is distressed because fidelity to the Master 
requires him to stand apart from and under 
the condemnation of men as earnest as him- 
self, that he may find comfort and support in 
knowing that men wiser and better than they 
are interpreted the Scriptures with him. 



Preface, 21 

There are certain mistakes of the present 
time which we must endeavor to correct. 
One is an unreasonable contempt for the min- 
istry. This is* largely due to worldliness. 
But the ministry is somewhat to blame for it. 
Some of us do not remember that, though we 
are but earthen vessels, we have God's trea- 
sure in our keeping. They do not remember 
that they have been called, even as God 
called Isaiah and Jeremiah ; that they have 
no right to go beyond that calling ; but with- 
in that calling they are endowed with every 
requisite of wisdom and power. And when 
men decry them or their work, they are too 
ready to believe that the greater part of their 
ministry is empty of the Spirit of God, and 
consequently ineffectual. Instead of magni- 
fying their office — which is only another word 
for expecting to the utmost God's fulfilment 
of His promise — they are sorely tempted to 
magnify themselves ; and they are led astray 
by the quick recognition with which the seek- 



22 Preface. 

er for applause meets. We are tempted, 
again, to value immediate results. The Lord 
said, Woe unto you when all men speak well 
of you ; yet this is held by many to be the 
best proof of pastoral success. The sociabil- 
ity of a congregation, its crowded pews, its 
full treasury, its regular revenues, and an ac- 
tivity in it (whatever the methods and ends 
of that activity may be), seem to be the cri- 
teria of its life ; and a pastor is sorely tempt- 
ed to despair if his congregation falls short 
of this, and for the sake of this more and 
more to neglect the spiritual culture of the 
members of his flock. They become less and 
less his Beichtkinder ; until at length he is 
made to feel that they are simply the people 
on whom he depends for his livelihood. 

Is it not necessary, then, that both the 
ministry and the congregations should be re- 
minded of the basis and responsibility of the 
sacred office ? Our people need to be taught 
that we minister to them the Word of God 
and are stewards of His mysteries. 



Preface. 23 

It seems to me that men put so much faith 
in earthly machinery in the Church, only be- 
cause they are ignorant of the Divine order. 
It is in churches which do not understand 
Holy Baptism and the Sacrament of the Al- 
tar that church-kitchens are spoken of as a 
means of grace. But have we not admired 
the application to the church of the machine- 
ry of the caucus and the mass-meeting ? Are 
not principles sacrificed to effect ? And is it 
not the commonest thing in the world to im- 
port and to carry from city to city some ex- 
citing way to make men good ; to require 
every pastor to acknowledge his ministrations 
a failure and, intermitting his own supreme 
responsibility, to become one of a multitude 
to be drilled and wheeled by a master in the 
art of managing men ? Even where one 
stands out against this, he admires it ; per- 
haps he imitates it ; and, yielding more and 
more to the spirit of the age — which is very 
likely to obey the prince of this world — he 



24 Preface, 

becomes more and more unmindful of the 
divine rules of pastoral fidelity, which, even 
for the best ends in the world, he has no right 
to disregard. 

I consider it another very grave symptom 
that there seems to be a general want of faith 
in the doctrines which distinguish the differ- 
ent denominations of Christians from one an- 
other. There would be no reason for regret 
if all were of one mind and one heart ; and 
certainly it is good and pleasant when some 
great calamity or common deliverance unites 
in Christian ministry men and women of op- 
posed creeds. But it is horrible that Chris- 
tians persist in divisions, which seem to have 
lost all significance, and let so much of their 
doing and giving be wasted on the support 
of a separate but useless establishment ; or, 
with a continual pretense of mutual confi- 
dence, are on the alert to cajole and weaken 
and destroy one another. How much better 
to examine these differences, to manfully give 



Preface. 25 

up those which are baseless, and to assert as 
the Truth of God those which are found to 
be His Truth. To be Christian we must be 
honest. He who is of the truth, heareth my 
voice, our Saviour says. How can one hear 
His voice, if he be not of the truth ? 

It is for these reasons that Pastoral Theol- 
ogy cannot carelessly adopt the methods of 
the world. The arts which may make anoth- 
er association powerful, are not thereby re- 
commended to the Church. Every eminent 
qualification will not fit one to be a pastor, 
whom God does not call. The Church of the 
Living God can be called, gathered, enlight- 
ened, sanctified and preserved in the true 
faith only by His Spirit, given in His Word 
and working through the Sacraments. The 
sheep and lambs of the flock can be fed only 
with the Word and Sacraments. And those 
who have wandered from the fold must not 
be followed with an outcry or lured with 
the art of a trapper ; but the Saviour will go 



26 Preface. 

after them in His Ministry, through His Word 
and Sacraments. It certainly is essential that 
we should consider no question small which 
refers to the preaching of the Gospel in its 
purity and the right administration of the 
Sacraments. 

Nor can we learn our Pastoral Theology 
from the teachers of other communions. We 
can learn much from them, but not all ; and 
all that we learn we ought to try in the cruci- 
ble. This, not because it must be our rule 
to distrust, criticise and defame ; nor because 
we may make little of what others are doing 
in the name of the Lord ; but because they 
professedly think differently of the Christians 
and the unbelievers they preach to, of the 
baptized and the unbaptrzed ; they put anoth- 
er estimate on the Word they preach and the 
Sacraments they administer ; and very natu- 
rally, if they believe the Sacraments, for in- 
stance, to be a little different from what the 
Scriptures say they are, they must use other 



Preface. *7 

pastoral methods than those the Scriptures 
prescribe. They do not define the words 
they use as we define them. And herein lies 
the absolute duty of every one of our pastors 
to learn what the teaching and praxis of the 
Evangelical Church is. 

It has been urged that the methods which 
were suitable in the times of the Reformation 
for that very reason cannot be suitable now, 
the times having changed; and there is a 
grave presumption that many old usages have 
fallen into oblivion because they were worn 
out. I trust no one will think this boo& 
hopes to revive old fashions. Nor would we 
urge the adoption of fixed rules which would 
prove applicable in one case but not in an- 
other ; for we freely admit that pastoral meth- 
ods must vary. It must be remembered, 
however, that many of the good usages of 
former time have been stolen from our Church 
by unbelief ; and it has been found that they 
are more appreciated and longed for in pro- 



28 Preface, 

portion as the faith of the Gospel revives 
among us. But it is our contention, i. That 
we ought to know the Scriptural principles 
of pastoral duty, and also the manner in which 
our Confessors carried them into practice ; 2. 
That we ought to hold those principles and 
in their light decide whether the old methods 
are not better ; and 3. That we should not 
yield those principles even to methods which 
are generally approved and which promise 
( ' success, ' ' if those methods and the Scriptu- 
ral principles are incompatible. 

A great work remains for the younger 
generation in our Church. We need a his- 
tory of the spiritual life of the German Church. 
We need a sympathetic study of its old cus- 
toms, and of the causes which led to their 
abandonment or modification, and of the re- 
markable unanimity with which the leaders 
in all that is hopeful for the Church are urg- 
ing their revival. Those who read English 
only need a better acquaintance with that 



Preface. 29 

type of piety which is our peculiar blessing. 
And we ought to have in our homes the ge- 
nial story of the great German pastors, who, 
thank God, have not been without worthy 
successors in this new country. 

I have to add that the references to Luth- 
er's works in this book (except on p. no) 
are to the Erlangen edition ; Chemnitz' s Ex- 
amen is quoted from the Frankfort edition of 

1707. 

Edward T. Horn. 

Charleston, S. C, Fed. i, 188 j. 



%\t flfcinfltM pastor. 



T H E 



Evangelical Pastok. 



THE PASTOR'S CONVERSATION. 

Luther's Letters. Table Talk. Conrad Porta, 
Pastorale Lutheri (new ed. Nordlingen 1842). Ges- 
sert, Das ev. Pfarramt nach Luther" s Ansichten, 
1826. Erasm. Sarcerius, Hirtenbuch, 1558. Hem- 
ming, Pastor, 1566. Bidembach, Manual e minis- 
troriuu ecclesicc, 1603. Balduin Brevis institutio 
ministrorutn verbi diviui, ex epist. 1. ad Timothe- 
um excerpta 1623. Tarnov, De sacrosancto minis- 
terio, 1624. Cave, Minister Jesn Christi, 1642. 
Quenstedt, Ethica pastoralis 1678. Feustking, 
Pastorale evangelicum, 1696. Mayer, Museum 
ministri ecclesice 1703. Arnold, Geistliche Gestalt 
eines evang, Lehrers, 1723, Zinzendorf, Jeremias, 

33 



34 The Evangelical Pastor. 

ein pre dig er der Gerechtigkeit, 1741. Kortholt, 
Pastor Fide lis 1698. Richd. Baxter, The Reformed 
Pastor. George Herbert, The Priest to the Tem- 
ple. A. H. Francke, Monita Pastoralia 1712. 
Paul Anton, Die Pastor albriefe^ 1753. J. P. Mil- 
ler, Anleitung zur zueisen u. gewissenhaften Ver- 
waltung des Lehramts, 1774. Bengel : Shatzkast- 
lein, etc., i860. Praktische Bemerkungen^ die Fiih- 
rung des geistl. Amtz betreffend 1814. Brandt, 
Der Pre dig er fur den Pre dig er 1830-31. Lohe, 
Der ev. Geistlicher, 3d ed. 1876. Beck, Gedank- 
en aus it. nach der Schr if tilber Christ/. Leben u. 
geistliches Amt 1859. Lohe, Bist du ein geistlich- 
er, 1863. J. M. Mason, Student and Pastor. Dief- 
fenbach and Mueller, Diarium Pastorale (contain- 
ing the Evangelical Breviary, a " Handagende" 
and a Hirtenbuch, 2d ed., Gotha, 1876. Paludan- 
Miiller, Der ev. Pfarrer u. seiu Amt, 2d ed. 1880. 
C. F. W. Walther, Ainerikanisch-Lutherische Pas- 
toral-theologic, St. Louis, 1872. Beck, Erklarung 
der Brief e Pauli an Timotkeus, 1879. Pastoral- 
lehren des Neueu Testamcntz, 1880 ; transl. into 
English, T. & T. Clark, 1885. Majer, Bist du 
ein Geistlicher, 2d ed. 1883. Preusz, Das pastor- 
ale Amtslebeu, 1884. 



The Pastor s Conversation. 35 

1. Wliat is the office to ivhich God has called 
you ? 

The ministry of the New Testament, not 
of the letter but of the spirit ; a stewardship 
of the mysteries of God. (2 Cor. 3 : 6 ; 1 
Cor. 4 : 1.) 

2. What methods does Luther propose to one 
who hears that call? 

Oratio, Tentatio, Meditatio faciunt theolo- 
gum. 

j. Explain to me his meaning in the word 
" Oratio/ 1 and state his argument. 

1 ' Kneel in thy closet and with real humil- 
ity and earnestness beg God that through 
His dear Son He will give His Holy Spirit 
to you, to enlighten you, guide you and give 
you understanding ; as thou seest that David 
in the 119th Psalm continually begs, Teach 
me> Lord; Show me ; Guide me ; Instruct 
me, and the like. Even though he had the 
text of Moses and well knew other books and 
daily heard and read them, yet did he wish to 



36 The Evangelical Pastor. 

have the real Master of the Scriptures also, 
that he might not be left to his own reason 
and be his own teacher. ' ' 

4. Does a minister need especial rules for 
prayer ? 

Yes ; he must pray because he is a believ- 
er ; and certain prayers belong to his office. 
Like St. Paul, he should pray without ceasing 
for those committed to his care ; he should 
pray that God would open to him His holy 
Word; he should pray God to make him 
sufficient for his office ; and he should bear 
particular cases of need before God in perpet- 
ual intercession. 

5. Is it of use to have fixed times for prayer ? 
It is of greatest use* 

6. Is it of use to have forms of prayer ? 

They are of especial use when, though our 
need is great, our spirits cleave to the dust. 

7. What times are best, and where can ap- 
propriate forms be found? 



The Pastor's Conversation. 37 

See the Evangelical Breviary \ published in Ger- 
man, by Dieffenbach and Mueller, in the year 
1857. The name Breviary is given in the Roman 
Church to a collection of lessons from Holy Scrip- 
ture, hymns and prayers, arranged for all the days 
of the year, to be said at the canonical hours by 
all the clergy. In monasteries it is strictly fol- 
lowed ; but secular priests are allowed to read 
these devotions at such times as are convenient. 
The main constituent of the Breviary is the Psalt- 
er, which is so arranged in it as to be read through 
every week. The idea of the Breviary is the in- 
junction of the Holy Scripture, Pray without ceas- 
ing. 

The idea of the Evangelical Breviary is the 
adaptation of the same daily and continuous ser- 
vice to the use of the Protestant ministry. While 
it does not seem possible for us to use it in all its 
parts, because we have to work as well as pray, 
it help** to fix a right ideal of our life as ministers 
of God, and it is so rich in the material of devo- 
tion, that it will be profitable to read about it. 

The Evangelical Breviary is divided into three 
parts : 1. The Lectionary ; 2. The Psalter ; 3. The 
Collection of Prayers. The Lectionary gives ap- 
propriate readings for every day of the week ; and 



38 The Evangelical Pastor. 

these are divided between Matins (the devotions 
of early morning), Lauds (at 9 o'clock), Pro Pace 
(at 12), Vespers (at sundown) and Complines (our 
Evening Prayer). The Matin Service contains 
Psalms and lessons and prayers ; to the 9 and 12 
o'clock and sundown prayers only Psalms are as* 
signed; at 3 o'clock a short text of Scripture is 
proposed to our meditation ; and the Evening 
Prayer again has fuller provision. 

The second noteworthy point is that each day of 
the week has a peculiar topic, which governs the 
lessons and the prayers. The topic on every Sun- 
day is : The Divine Institution and Mission of the 
Ministry. On Monday : The Promise given to the 
Ministry, and its Responsibility. Om~ Tuesday : 
The Minister's Walk and Conversation. On Wed- 
nesday : The Prophetic Office. On Thursday : 
The Pastoral Office. On Friday : The Priestly 
Office. On Saturday : The Office of the Confessor. 
The very remarkable Allegemeines Gebetbuch en- 
dorsed by Luthardt and Kliefoth for general use, 
also prescribes a distinct topic to the devotions of 
every day in the week ; and it will be remembered 
that Bishop Wilson's celebrated Sacra Privata 
pursues a similar course. The object of the Evan* 
gelical Breviary is to provide devotions which be- 



The Pastor's Conversation. 39 



long rather to our office than to our persons ; and 
it is tvi.^nt that such daily communion with God 
concerning our amy as ministers would result in 
carefulness and self-examinatiou and continual 
purification. 

It is impossible to set forth the riches of the 
Oratoriutn which forms the third part of the book. 
It contains two hundred and fifty-three prayers, 
most of them derived from sources sacred in our 
Church. Besides full provision for the " Hours " 
described above, it has prayers for Sunday, while 
engaged in worship, prayers to be said before and 
after every official act of the minister, and prayers 
for especial occasions, for instance, Before the 
study of the Bible, In spiritual barrenness % When 
one is weary of his office, etc. As a specimen I 
have translated a series of Sunday morning pray- 
ers and give them here. 

Before Going to Church. 

Lord God, heavenly Father, who dost will that 
in Heaven and on earth Thy saints should praise 
and bless and worship Thee without ceasing : Give 
Thy Spirit and Thy grace to me, Thy servant, and 
to all Thy people, that we may lift up holy hands 
in Thy house without wrath or doubting, and may 



4® The Evangelical Pastor. 



both teach and hear Thy word with joy : Through 
etc. 

The samp 
Lord Jesus, Tho- — l called me to be an am " 
bassado*- /r - /l A nee * * &° now to Thy house, I en- 
ter Thy holy place, I am about to declare Thy 
message : Oh, be Thou with me and make me suf- 
ficient for this work, because of myself I am not 
equal to it. Lord, go Thou with me, and let Thy 
strength be made perfect in my weakness. I go 
in Thy name ; and in Thy strength will I do my 
office ; Oh, let me finish it in Thy blessing. 
On the Way to Church. 

Hold up my goings in Thy paths, that my foot- 
steps slip not. Ps. 17 : 5. 

The Minister's Preparation in the Sacristy. 

Lord Jesus, it is Thy office which I have under- 
taken ; it is Thy work which I am doing ; it is Thy 
Word which I preach ; it is Thy people whom I 
would build up ; it is Thy glory that I seek ; Oh, 
help in this hour, that I a poor sinner may do all 
according to Thy most holy will. 

Before the Altar. 
O Lord God Almighty, I thank Thee that Thou 
dost permit me now to stand before Thy holy al- 



The Pastor's Coirvn sation. \\ 

tar, and to fall before Thy mercy-seat for our sins 
and for the transgressions of Thy people. Accept 
my prayer, O God, and make me worthy to offer 
the prayers of Thy people, and by Thy Holy 
Spirit enable me whom Thou hast called to Thy 
service to call upon Thy name at all times and in 
all places without blame, with the witness of a good 
conscience, that Thou mayest regard my prayer 
and be gracious unto me according to Thy great 
mercy. (From the Greek Church.) 

After the Altar Service. 

O most merciful God, Father, Son and Holy 
Ghost, I thank and praise Thee, because Thou 
hast permitted me by Thy grace to complete this 
holy service : in Thy mercy forgive the sins I have 
therein committed through sloth, or carelessness, 
or worldly thoughts, and let not my congregation 
suffer the consequences of my sin. Rather bless 
Thou this holy service to all these souls unto eter- 
nal life. 

Before the Sermon. 

Lord, Thou art God, which hast made heaven, 
and earth, and the sea, and all that in them is : 
Grant unto Thy servant that with all boldness I 
may speak Thy word. Acts 4 : 24, 29. 



43 The Evangelical Pastor. 

Or 
Lord, open Thou my lips, 
And my mouth shall show forth 
Thy praise. 

After the Sermon. 
O dear Lord Jesus Christ, who hast justified us 
and made us happy, and hast given unto me the 
power to expound Thy Holy Word, and also to 
my hearers the power to hear the same ; preserve 
and strengthen them and me in this doctrine, and 
give us grace that we may continually increase in 
the knowledge of Thy grace and in sincere faith ; 
guard us against all sects and false doctrine, that 
on the blessed day of our redemption we may be 
found blameless and without fear. And to Thee 
with the Father and the Holy Ghost shall be the 
praise in a world without end. 

8. What does Luther mean by the word 
"Tentatio"? 

" As soon as God's Word has free course 
through thee, Satan will visit thee, to make 
a real doctor of thee, and by means of temp- 
tation to teach thee to seek and to love the 
Word of God/ ' 



The Pastor's Conversation. 43 

9. Does this exhaust the meaning ? 

No ; the word might be rendered by "Ex- 
perience" taking this latter in two senses, 
as experience which we have had> and the 
experience we have, namely, knowledge, 
tact, skill, assurance and courage got from 
discipline and practice. ' ' 

10. What does Luther mean by the word 
" Meditatio"? 

"Not only in the heart but externally to 
study and analyze the spoken and the written 
Word, to read it and read it again, with dili- 
gent attention and reflection, in order to dis- 
cover the meaning of the Holy Ghost in it." 

11. This is almost the same as we mean by 
our word i ' Study ' ' ? 

Yes. 

12. What books ought a minister study ? 

First and only, the Word of God. But 
other books ought to be studied as an aid to 
the right understanding of this, 



44 The Evangelical Pastor. 

ij. Has not a minister a right to become 
acquainted with other than sacred learning ? 

He must always remember that he is not 
his own, and that his whole activity belongs 
to his Master and to the flock of God. In so 
far as literature, science and the study of his- 
tory and human nature can serve him in his 
especial stewardship, he is in duty bound to 
pursue them in right proportion. 

14. Tell me what are the most necessary 
books for a minister ? 

1. The Holy Bible in the original Hebrew 
and Greek, with such dictionaries and gram- 
mars as may be necessary. 

2. The Christian Book of Concord. 

3. A good Church History. 

4. ScKmid's Dogmatics. 

5. Such commentaries as give necessary 
introductions to the books of the Bible and 
assist and stimulate study, but not such as 
make original study seem superfluous. 



The Pastor 1 s Conversation. 45 

ij. Name any Commentaries of this sort 
which may be had in the English tongue ? 

On the Old Testament : Keil and De- 
litzsch. Pusey. 

On the New Testament : Meyer ; Ben- 

gel's Gnomon; Stier's Words of fesus ; 

Trench on the Miracles and on the Parables. 

16. Is it possible for a pastor to observe hours 
of study ? 

It will be of use to fix such hours and ob- 
serve them as closely as possible. 

17. Do you propose any rules for study ? 
Merely this, that it is salutary to lay out 

a course of study which you may recur to 
however you may be interrupted. It will 
give method to your work. It will yield 
definite results which will encourage you. 
And it will deliver you from indolence. 

18. Give me a suitable prayer to be said be- 
fore study. 

Lord J<rsus Christ, open the ears and eyes of my 
mind, that 1 may hear and understand Thy Word 



46 The Evangelical Pastor, 

and do Thy will. I am a stranger and a pilgrim 
on earth ! Hide not Thy commandments from 
me. Take away the covering from mine eyes, that 
I may see wonderful things in Thy law. — Ephrem 
Syms. 

Eternal God and Father of our Lord Jesus 
Christ, vouchsafe to me Thy grace, that I may well 
and faithfully study Thy holy Scriptures, and seek 
Christ therein and there find Him, and through 
Him have eternal life. — Luther. 

Oh, Lord God, if it please Thee through me to 
do somewhat to Thy glory, and not to my praise 
or the praise of any man, — out of Thy pure grace 
and mercy give to me a right understanding of Thy 
Word. — Luther. 

Give to me, O dear Lord God, Thy grace, that 
I may rightly understand Thy Word ; and much 
more, that I may do it. And O dearest Lord Je- 
sus Christ, if Thou seest that this my study will 
not be alone to Thy glory, let me rather be igno- 
rant of every letter, and give Thou to this poor 
sinner only so much as is to Thy praise. — Luther. 



II. 

THE CALL. 

See Harnack, Die Kirch r, ihr Amt, ihr Regi- 
ment, Niirnberg, 1862. Practical Theology I. Er- 
langen, 1877. Huschke, Die strcitigen Lehren v. 
d. Kirch e, v. Kirch en amt, v. Kirc hen regiment, u. 
v. Kirchcnordnung. Leipzig, 1863. Philippi, 
Glaubenslehre v. 3. E. Francke, Das amt des 
N. T. Luth. Zeitschrift, 1849, p. 672. Lohe, Apho- 
rismen iiber neutestamentliche Aemter, Erlangen, 
1850. Kirch e u. Amt, 185 1. Munchmeyer, Das 
Amt des N. T. Osterode 1852. K. Lechler, Die 
N. T. Lehre v. heiligen Amte. Stuttgart, 1857. 
Krauszold, Amt u. Gemeinde Stuttg. 1858. Har- 
lesz, Etliche Gewissensfragen hinsichtlich der 
Lehre v. Kirche % Kirchenamt u. Kirchenregiment, 
Erlangen, 1862. Dieckhoff, Luther's Lehre v. d 
Kirchl. Gewalt y Berlin, 1865. H. L. Ahrens, Das 
Amt d. Schliissel, Hannover, 1864. Vilmar, Die 
Lehre v. geistl. Amte, Marburg, 1870. Haupt, 
Die grundstuerzenden Irrthilmer unserer zeit in 

47 



4 8 77/ e Evangelical Pastor. 

£ez. auf die Kirche u. ihre Verfassung, Frank- 
fort, 1873. Walther, Die Stimmc imsrer Kirche 
in d. Frage v. Kirche u. Amtc, Erlangen, 3d ed., 
1875. The Ministry, M. Loy, Columbus, O., 1870. 

ip. The Augsburg Confession teaches {Art. 
XIV.) " That no one should publicly in the 
church teach or administer the Sacraments, 
without a regular call ' V what warrant has this 
in the Scriptures ? 

Rom. 10 : 15 ; Jer. 23 : 21 ; Heb. 5 : 4, 5 ; 
1 Cor. 12 : 28, 29 ; Matt. 9 : 37, 38 ; 1 Cor. 
14 : 40 ; Acts 20 : 28 ; Eph. 4:11. 

Luther also says, ' ' It is not enough to say 
that all Christians are priests ; they are not 
all pastors. For besides being a Christian 
and a priest, one must have have the office 
and a congregation. The call and the com- 
mission makes pastors and preachers. ' ' 

" Whoever wishes to preach or teach, let 
him show his call and commission, or let him 
hold his peace." On Ps. 82. Vol. 39, p. 255. 

<l Even if thou couldst save the world with 



Thr CalL 49 

one sermon, if thou art not called to do so, 
let it alone ; for otherwise thou wilt break the 
true Sabbath and displease God." On Ex- 
odus 20 : 8- 11. 

" It is not enough that one boasts that he 
has the Spirit. God does not wish us to put 
confidence in those who cry, Believe my Spi- 
rit, and those who say, The Spirit drives 
me, the Spirit drives me, the Spirit drives 
me ! For otherwise all of us would be on 
the same footing and no one would listen to 
anybody else. But where God calls and 
drives to the office of preaching, the work 
goes on and forces its way. ' ' Exodus 3. 

Hear also the weighty words of Chemnitz, 
Loci Theologici, Part III. I- de Ecclesia : 
1 ' It is useful to ask why so much depends 
on a minister's having a proper call. It is 
not to be thought that this is only because 
of man's appointment, or for the sake of or- 
der. It has the weightiest reasons, which 
are very instructive : 1. Because the office 
of the Word is the office of God Himself, 



5o The Evangelical Pastor. 

which He Himself means to execute through 
regular means and instruments in His Church % 
(Luke i : 70 ; Heb. 1:1; 2 Cor. 5 : 20) ; 
therefore it is absolutely necessary if thou 
wilt be a true shepherd of the Church, that 
thou know that God wishes thy service and 
that thou art His instrument. For so canst 
thou apply to thyself those sayings of Scrip- 
ture, Is. 59 : 21 ; 2 Cor. 13 : 3 ; Luke 10 : 16; 
John 1 : 25. 2. That the office may be right- 
ly discharged and to the edification of the 
Church very many spiritual gifts are neces- 
sary, especially the guidance and protection 
of God. He who has a real call can appeal 
to God with a quiet conscience and expect 
that He will hear him according to His pro- 
mises, 2 Cor. 3 : 2 ; 1 Tim. 4 : 14. j. The 
principal nerve of the office is that God is 
present with it and works through it by means 
of His Spirit and grace. He who has been 
really called to the office and properly dis- 
charges it, can believe with confidence that 
the promises belong to him, Is. 49 : 2 ; 51 : 



The Call. 51 



16 ; Luke 1 : 76 ; 1 Tim. 4:16; 1 Cor. 15 : 
58 ; 1 Cor. 16 : 9 ; 2 Cor. 2:12; John 10 : 3. 
4. The assurance of having received a divine 
call also enables a minister to do his duty 
with greater industry, fidelity, cheerfulness 
and courage. Yes, this doctrine of the call 
awakens in the hearers also true reverence 
for and obedience to the office. ,, 

20. What does Luther further say of the use 
of the call to the congregation ? 

* c It is of use to the people and even neces- 
sary to warn them against unauthorized 
teachers (Rottengeister), and to enable them 
to make a difference between preachers, say- 
ing of their pastor, This is our preacher, giv- 
en to us by God. ' ' Exp. of 1 Cor. 75 / 8- 
10. Vol. 5/, p. 116. 

21. How can a person know that he has been 
regularly called to be pastor of a congregation ? 

1. It must be the call of the congregation. 
Gal. 1:9; Matt. 7 : 15 ; 1 John 4 : 1 ; 2 John 
10, 11 ; John 10 : 4, 5. 



52 The Evangelical Pastor. 

See Luther's Tractate of 1523, That a Christian 
assembly or congregation has the right and power 
to try all doctrines and to call, install and depose 
teachers : Reason and Proof from Scripture. Vol. 
22, 140. He says, p. 149, " Neither Titus, nor 
Timothy, nor Paul ever appointed a priest who 
was not elected and called by the congregation. 
This is clearly proved from Tit. 1 : 7 and 1 Tim. 
5:2: 'A bishop-must be blameless,' and from the 
command to prove the deacons. Now it is not 
likely that Titus knew who were blameless, but 
the report must come from the congregation, who 
must designate them. Again we read in Acts 6 
that the Apostles themselves were not at liberty 
to appoint persons even to the much less import- 
ant office of a Deacon, without the knowledge and 
consent of the congregation ; but the congregation 
called the seven deacons and the Apostles con- 
firmed them. If the Apostles could not by their 
own authority install officers whose duties referred 
merely to the distribution of temporal things, how 
could they have been so bold as by their own 
authority to confer the highest office, that of 
preaching, upon any one without the congrega- 
tion's knowledge, consent and call." 



The Call. 53 



2. It must be given by the constitutional 
representatives of the congregation. 

3. It must not be due to any unworthy, 
action of the minister himself. 

22. Is it never right for a man to propose 
himself to a congregation ? 

Sometimes it is right for a minister to do 
so. (1 Tim. 3:1; Is. 6 : 8.) But it is right 
only when done out of unselfish motives, out 
of love to God and His Word and His peo- 
ple. 

23. What should a minister now do, who is 
conscious that he owes his present call to un- 
worthy action of his own ? 

1 ' He is not free to run away from his office ; 
but, now that he is in it, he must turn to 
God, repent, and endeavor that God may 
continually amend that which he himself be- 
gan wrongly."— A. H. Franc ke % Collegium 
Pastorale. 

24. It has not been an unheard of thing a?no?ig 
us that ministers received and accepted a call 



54 The Evangelical Pastor. 

limited to a certain time, for instance a year or 
a term of years : is this right ? 

No. Dr. Walther says : "A congregation 
has no right to give such a call and a preach- 
er is not justified in accepting it. Such a call 
is not valid before God, nor is it legitimate. 
First of all, it is in conflict with the divine 
source of the call to the ministry in the 
Church, which is amply witnessed in the 
Word of God. (Acts 20 : 28 ; Eph. 4 : n ; 
1 Cor. 12 : 28 ; Ps. 68 : 11 ; Is. 41 : 27.) For 
it is God Himself who calls ministers, the 
congregations are only instruments to sepa- 
rate the persons for the work to which the 
Lord has called them. (Acts 13 : 2.) This 
having been done, the minister is henceforth 
in God's service and no creature can depose 
or dismiss God's servant from his office until 
God Himself has deposed or dismissed him 
(Jer. 15 : 19 ; cf. Hos. 4 : 6), in which case 
the congregation only carries out God's de- 
position and dismissal. If nevertheless the 
congregation does it, it makes itself mistress 



The Call. 55 

of the office of the ministry (Matt. 23 : 8 ; 
cf. 2 Tim. 4 : 2, 3), lays hands on the prerog- 
ative of God, whether it has before the call 
or with the call made arbitrary conditions, or 
subsequently attempts to make such. And 
the preacher who gives a congregation the 
authority to call and dismiss him at will, 
makes himself a hireling, a servant of men. 
Such a call is, not at all the call to the minis- 
try which God has ordained. It is not a 
call of God through the Church ; it is a con- 
tract between men ; it is no calling but a tran- 
sient function outside the divine order, an ar- 
rangement made by men contrary to God's 
arrangement, and therefore it is grievous dis- 
order. It is therefore, as we have said, null 
and void. One called in that way is not to 
be looked on as a servant of Christ and the 
Church. 

" In the second place, such a call conflicts 
with the relation in which pastor and people 
ought to stand to each other, according to 
the Word of God. It is in conflict with the 



5 6 The Evangelical Pastor, 

honor and obedience which his hearers owe 
to the divinely appointed minister of the Gos- 
pel (Luke 10 : 16 ; i Tim. 5:17; 1 Thess. 
5 : 12, 13 ; 1 Cor. 16 : 15, 16 ; Heb. 13 : 17) ; 
for if the hearers really had that authority it 
would be in their power to withdraw them- 
selves from the duty of showing that honor 
and obedience which God requires. 

' ' None the less is every sort of temporary 
call contrary to the faithfulness and stead- 
fastness unto death which God requires from 
preachers (1 Pet. 5 : 1-4 ; 1 Tim. 4:16; 1 
Cor. 4 : 1 ss.) ; and incompatible with the 
account which they, as watchers over souls, 
must give of those committed to their charge 
(Heb. 13 : 17). 

' ( Finally, a temporary call is contrary to 
the praxis committed to the Apostles by the 
Lord and observed by them, according to 
which they, that is the Holy Ghost through 
them, did not leave it to their hearers to de- 
cide how long they should remain with a con- 
gregation (Luke 9 : 4, 5). And it is contrary 



The Call. 57 



to the praxis of the Church in those times in 
which doctrine, life, order and discipline were 
yet incorrupt. It needs no argument to show 
that so long as that sort of a call is usual, 
the Church never is rightly cared for, ruled, 
exercised in sound discipline, established in 
faith and godliness and spread abroad ; such 
a call opens the door to all disorder, con- 
fusion and harm through gainsayings and 
men- pleasing and men-fearing servants of the 
belly. 

' ' Let us then hear the opinions of some 
of our fathers in the faith. 
sfc ^ >fc ^c >;< %. 

' Thus writes Hieronymus Kromayer, Pro- 
fessor at Leipzig, died 1670 ; ' The office of 
the ministry cannot be conferred by a call 
which after the manner of a contract is limit- 
ed to a certain time, or reserves the liberty 
to dismiss the person freely called, because 
God has not given the authority to make 
such contract, nor does He permit it ; and 
therefore neither the one called nor those 



\S The Evangelical jt~^*^ 

calling dare consider such a vocation and dis- 
missal to be divine. ' 

i i Ludwig Hartmann : \ We are servants 
of God and this is God's office to which we 
have been called, through men indeed, yet 
by God Himself; this holy work must ac- 
cordingly be treated in a holy way and not 
as men please. A shepherd or a cowherd 
may be hired for a certain time ; and when 
the time is up (yet not whenever you please) 
if they have not given satisfaction they may 
be discharged : but it is in no man's power 
to do so with a shepherd of souls. And a 
minister of the Gospel himself dare not ac- 
cept the holy office in that way, unless he 
is willing to be a hireling. They who have 
been called after that fashion certainly will 
not be industrious and faithful but will be 
flatterers, saying what the people wish to hear; 
or if they be faithful, they will be in constant 
expectation that they will be dismissed." — 
Pastorale Evang. p. 104. 



The Call. S9 

25. Would it then be right for a minister to 
pledge himself to remain with a congregation as 
long as he lives ? 

No : that also is contrary to God's Word. 

26. Is it right to refuse a regular call? 

No man has a right to refuse a call which 
he knows to be the call of God. 

27. But, if the minister thinks himself une- 
qual to the duty to which he is called 9 

Ex. 4 : 10-14 J J er * l : 4~ 8 ; 2 Cor. 3 : 4-6. 

28. Has a minister the right to ask any con- 
ditions of the congregation calling him ? 

It is his duty to have it clearly understood 
that he is to come as the Lutheran pastor of 
a Lutheran congregation ; that he is to preach 
God's Word purely and simply ; that he is 
to execute his office according to the Small 
Catechism and the Augsburg Confession ; that 
in the matter of worship, etc. , he is to con- 
form to the Lutheran Church ; and that in 
the services of the church and in the schools 
only such books are to be used as he can 
approve. 



60 The Evangelical Pastor. 

29. What benefit does this propose t 

That the congregation as well as the pastor 
should guard their mutual relations by the 
Word of God and the Confessions of the 
Church. 

30. Do you mean that he should demand 
any change in the mode of worship of a congre^ 
gation before he considers the call? 

No : this part of the answer must be inter- 
preted by Articles VII. and X. of the Augs- 
burg Confession. 

31. Cannot observances which are themselves 
indifferent sometimes involve a great principle ? 

Yes : but this is not the time to import a 
great principle. 

32. If after the pastorate has begun some of 
the usages of the congregation need amendment, 
how are they to be changed? 

Some the congregation will change, if the 
reason for the change be suggested. And as 
to others, the minister must heed the advice 
given by the Wittenberg Faculty in 1626 : 



The Call. 61 



1 ' A Lutheran pastor can accommodate him- 
self to them without offense for a while, until 
his hearers are better informed. n — i Cor. 9 : 
20-22. 

3 3. Give Dr. Walther's vigorous words 
about proper Church and School Books. 

1 ■ That preacher who will look on quietly 
and allow it while his congregation sing out 
of books, and his children are taught out 
of books, which contain the poison of false 
doctrine, is no shepherd, but a murderer, 
of souls.' ' 

34. If better books be not at once procurable ? 
He must at least point out the errors which 

the books contain. 

jj\ What else has one who has been called 
a right to require t 

That the congregation express its deter- 
mination to maintain him and his family. 
And it will be best if they state in writing 
the amount to be paid for his support at 
stated times. 



62 The Evangelical Pastor. 

j6* Ought every congregation own a parson- 
age? 

In the year 1531 Luther wrote to Pastor 
Bernhard of Doelin : ' ' I am glad to hear of 
your intention to marry. But see that the 
parsonage be built before you marry ; for it 
is intolerable to board with your wife in some 
one else's house*' ' 



III. 

BEGINNING OF THE PASTORATE. 

j/. What is the use of Ordination / 
" It is a public testification by the Church 
that this person has been called also to ad- 
minister the sacraments. ' ' Wittenberg Form, 
1565. Daniel II 520. " Such ordination 
is 1. A public declaration of any one's legiti- 
mate vocation, and the certificate that he is 
put over a certain church in the name of Je- 
sus. The one ordained is thus certified that 
he has been rightly called, and the Church 
also needs such certitude. 2. The ordi?ian- 
dus is admonished concerning the orthodox 
faith and concerning honesty of life and man- 
ners ; and to the end of his ministry he ought 
to be mindful of this exhortation, because it 
is the commandment of God given in His 

Word. 3. The hearers are admonished 

63 



64 The Evangelical Pastor, 

partly concerning the fruits which ought to 
redound to them from the labors and vigils 
of a faithful minister, and concerning the 
reverence and gratitude they ought to show 
towards the ambassador of Christ and stew- 
ard of the mysteries of God. 4. By the im- 
position of hands the ordina?idus is bidden 
consider that he has been wholly dedicated 
to the ministry of God, as of old the victims 
were consecrated to God alone by the impo- 
sition of hands : let him think that a minister 
is to be slain by the cross and various afflic- 
tions as if he were a victim ; let him think 
that the gracious hand of God will be upon 
his head, i. e., that he will enjoy the divine 
protection if he piously and faithfully dis- 
charge his duty, and on the other hand will 
feel the weight of God's hand if he neglect 
it. 5. The ordinandus is commended to 
God by the common prayers of the Church, 
which never are in vain but avail much, as 
the examples given in Scripture show, Deut. 
34 : 9 ; i Tim. 4 : 14 ; 2 Tim. 1 : 16. (Sel- 



Beginning of the Pastorate, 65 

neccer interprets, li The grace given unto 
thee, etc." to be the presence and efficacy 
of the Holy Spirit in all the parts of his min- 
istry.) Non ritui sed precibus adscribitur 
ilia efficacia. — Hartniann I. viii., 13, p. 149. 

j8. Should a person be ordained, who has not 
been called to a certain place ? 

The Canon Law says (Dist. jo) Nullus 
sine titulo ordinari debet* <( In 1597 a ques- 
tion arose as to the right of ordaining a per- 
son who had not yet been called to a parish, 
and while Doctors Fischer and Reudenius of 
the Jena Faculty answered in the affirmative, 
Mylius answered in the negative, adducing 
these reasons : 1. The authority of Holy 
Scripture : Lay hands suddenly on no man, 
1 Tim. 5 : 22. But to lay hands on one who 
is not called by the Church, and to a certain 
congregation, would seem sudden and rash. 
* * * 2. The authority of the Church, 
As is plain from this canon of the Council of 
Chalcedon, held in 488, attended by six hun- 



66 The Evangelical Pastor. 

dred and thirty bishops : ' No man is to be 
ordained absolutely, neither presbyter nor 
deacon nor any who is in the ecclesiastical 
order ; but whoever is ordained must be ap- 
pointed particularly to some charge in a 
church of a city, or in the country, or in a 
martyry, or in a monastery. But as regards 
those who are ordained without a charge, the 
holy Synod has determined that such ordi- 
nation is to be held void and cannot have 
any effect anywhere, to the reproach of the 
ordainer.' 3. Because reason condemns it. 
Whoever is ordained absolutely is not or- 
dained minister of a church, but is constitu- 
ted an Apostle, who is not confined to any 
place, but is authorized to teach anywhere. 
But this is unlawful." Gerh. L. 23, 158, 
note y cited by Loy, p. 239, 40. See also 
Hartmann I. viii., p. 148. "The notion 
that a minister is such absolutely whether he 
has a parish or not, and that he accordingly 
has peculiar powers, which no other person 
has, beyond as well as within the limits of 



Beginning of the Pastorate. 67 

his parish, if he happens to have any, finds 
not the slightest encouragement among Lu- 
theran writers of note, and has not the slight- 
est foundation in Scripture. The doctrine 
taught by the Bible and the Church is, that 
the pastor's peculiar calling extends no furth- 
er than the congregation which has called 
him, and beyond this he has no more rights 
than any other Christian.' ' Loy> 164. 

jp. Is ordination to be repeated whenever a 
minister e?iters upon a new pastorate ? 
No. Hartmann I. viii. 17. 

40. IVJierein does Installation differ from 
Ordination ? 

"Ordination is done once for all, but In- 
vestiture is repeated as often as any one who 
has already been ordained to the ministry is 
called to another church, or to another grade 
of office in the same church." Gerhard, 
Loc 23, 170. 

41. Ought the new pastor preach an Intro- 
ductory Sermon ? 



68 The Evangelical Pastor. 

It is confidently argued by our authorities 
that he ought, principally because the people 
expect it and will be disappointed if, instead, 
he merely expounds the Gospel for the day. 
Besides, he here has an unusual opportunity. 
On the other hand, there may be an advan- 
tage in at once beginning a simple, unsensa- 
tional, impersonal instruction in the Word of 
God ; and his inexperience and ignorance of 
all the relations of the congregation make him 
likely to say in an introductory sermon what 
may be prejudicial to his influence. 

42. What rules can you suggest for such a 
sermon ? 

Dr. Walther gives us the following useful 
note : ' ' It is most appropriate to ground it 
if possible on the pericope for the Sunday. 
If this is not convenient, the following texts, 
which have been used again and again by 
ministers of blessed memory, are useful. 
Rom. 1 : 16, 17 ; 15 : 29-33 \ J Cor. 1 : 21- 
25 ; 2 : 1-5 ; 4 : 1, 2 ; 2 Cor. 1 : 24 ; 4 : 5, 6 ; 






Beginning of the Pastorate. 69 

5 : 17-21 ; 1 Thess. 2 : 13 ; Acts 26 : 22-29 ; 
John 17 : 20, 21. When Prof. J. A. Dittle- 
mair of blessed memory entered on his office 
as a deacon in Nuremberg on the 19th Sun- 
day after Trinity, in the year 1744, he took 
his theme from the Gospel for the day, The 
knowledge of Salvation in the Forgiveness 
of sins, the True Purpose of the office of 
Peace. When the pious Siegmund Basch 
entered on his office as Oberhofprediger in 
Hildburghausen in the year 1751 on Exaudi 
Sunday, he took his theme from the Gospel, 
The Testimony of Jesus the chief business of 
his servants. When the distinguished theo- 
logian J. Melch. Goeze (whom the talented 
but bitter enemy of the Gospel, Lessing, held 
up to scorn) entered on his office at Magde- 
burg on the 1 st Sunday after Trinity, 1750, 
he took his theme from the Epistle, The De- 
claration of God 1 s Word is the pleas antes t 
work of an evangelical preacher. When J. 
Ph. Fresenius entered on his office as Senior 
of the Ministerium of Frankfort-on-the-Main 



70 The Evangelical Pastor. 

on Invocavit Sunday, 1749, he took the text 
2 Cor. 5 : 9-21, and as his theme The evan- 
gelical nature of the Preacher' s office , giving 
1. The evangelical ground of it — the recon- 
ciliation of God with men. 2. The evan- 
gelical end of it — the reconciliation of men 
with God, and 3. The evangelical means 
which this office uses to attain its end — the 
word of reconciliation. In the introduction 
he started from Is. 40 : 2. Finally, when on 
the 2d Sunday after Trinity, 1691, Spener 
entered on his office as Provost in Berlin, he 
first elaborated from the Gospel the truth con- 
cerning Blessedness, showing 1. Its cause, 2. 
its quality, and 3. the persons who attain to 
it. Then he showed 1. What he required 
from his hearers, (a) that they should recog- 
nize him to be one sent by God, (b) that 
they should obey not him, but Him who sent 
him, and (c) that they should pray for him ; 
and 2. What his hearers had a right to ex- 
pect from him, (a) that he should declare to 
them the whole counsel of God for their sal- 



Beginning of the Pastorate. 71 

vation, (b) that he should be an example to 
them, and (c) that he should pray for them. 
As an opening, he took Ps. 34 : 8." 

We add that a pastor should carefully 
avoid criticism of the congregation in his in- 
troductory sermon. Neither should he make 
many promises. And especially ought he 
not detail the reforms which he hopes to 
effect. 

43. What is the first duty of the pastor in 
his new charge ? 

He should visit all the families composing 
it, in order to become acquainted with them. 

44. What advice can you add ? 

He should visit the sick first, and those 
who on account of age or a like cause cannot 
easily make his acquaintance at church ; he 
should visit all, treating all alike ; even those 
who do not seem to be zealous and of a spiritual 
mind he should treat with equal confidence ; 
whatever may be said to him he should not 
allow himself to be identified with or counted 



72 The Evangelical Pastor. 

against any party or group in the congrega- 
tion ; he should avoid discussion of the acts 
or character of his predecessor, or of his col- 
league if he have one, while he should be 
quick to learn from his example and meth- 
ods ; he should hear much but say little ; he 
should ask and observe the advice of the of- 
ficers of the congregation ; his eyes and ears 
should be open to catch all information which 
will enable him to understand and assist his 
people, and he should at once visit and take 
his place in the schools of the congregation, 
both the parochial- and the Sunday-schools. 

" (The most stirring elements make themselves 
quickest felt on the minister ; if he is not prudent, 
he may fall into quite the wrong hands ; and even 
if this is not the case, there arises in the others the 
idea that they are overlooked.) It is specially 
important that we should show ourselves every- 
body's friend, with a heart for all, ready and open 
for all. * * * * In the course of our general 
work it is the specially impressible and accessible 
people who gradually come to the front, the relia- 



Beginning of the Pastorate. 73 

ble and the unreliable become known ; moreover, 
we can distinguish in the wider circle special natu- 
ral rallying points instead of points artificially 
made."— Pastoral Theology of the N. T. Beck, 
p. 131. 

45. What practical advice does Dr. Walther 
insert here ? 

That the new pastor should not go away 
from home for at least six months after his 
coming, without the most pressing necessity ; 
that even though his need be great he should 
not make more debts than are absolutely ne- 
cessary, and if forced to borrow he should 
not borrow from one of his parishioners ; and 
finally, that he should at once begin his 
Church Register and Church Book. 

46. What do you mean by this distinction ? 
The Register or Seelenregister is a list of 

all the baptized members of the congrega- 
tion, so arranged that the history of each may 
be read at a glance. (We may suggest the 
following rubric : Firsts a narrow column 



74 The Evangelical Pastor. 

in which may be placed references to other 
parts of the book ; second, the full baptismal 
name and surname ; third, place and date of 
birth ; fourth, place and date of baptism ; 
fifth, parents' names ; sixth, place and date 
of confirmation ; seventh, date of marriage and 
name of husband or wife ; eighth, place and 
date of death. A column may also be given 
to show whether the person has removed to 
another place or congregation.) 

Besides, there should be in the Church 
Book a register of baptisms, confirmations, 
marriages and deaths, each containing every 
necessary detail, and also a Communion List, 
showing who were present at each adminis- 
tration of the Holy Communion. 

^7. Are these records of any importance? 

Besides their use to the pastor, his con- 
gregation has the right to demand that he 
keep them with the greatest care. 



IV. 
THE PASTOR PREACHING. 

48. Give me a form of prayer for one about 
to prepare a sermon. 

From Luther : Lord God, Thou hast made me 
a Bishop and pastor in Thy Church. Thou seest 
how unfit I am to discharge this office. Without 
Thy counsel, I would have spoiled everything long 
ago. Therefore do I call upon Thee. I would in- 
deed give my mouth and tongue and heart to this 
duty ; I wish to edify Thy people ; I would gladly 
be a learner, and always go about meditating in 
Thy Word. O, use me as Thine instrument : on- 
ly, dear Lord, forsake me not ; for if Thou leavest 
me alone, all Thy work in my hands will come to 
naught. 221. 

Another : Lord Jesus, dear Master, I come to 
Thee now : Give to me out of Thy hands the bread 
of life that at Thy command I may carry it to Thy 
hungry people. See, I have nothing of my own — 

75 



76 The Evangelical Pastor. 

nothing at all ; I am a beggar ; but Thou art rich 
and hast the fullness of grace and truth. Lord, to 
whom shall we go? Thou alone hast words of 
life. Give to Thy poor servants the bread of life, 
and to-day, according to Thy grace, fill my hands 
that I may distribute it at Thy bidding. O, Thou 
loving Saviour, suffer not Thy poor disciples to go 
away empty, but give to us some fragments that 
our souls may be satisfied with life and peace. — 
Ev. Brev. 224. 

Another: My Lord and my God, Thou heavenly 
Sower of the seed, give to me this day out of the 
glorious and inexhaustible treasury of Thy Word 
the seed I am to sow. See, my hand is empty ; 
fill it with the golden grain of Thy pure Word, 
that the harvest may be well-pleasing unto Thee. 
Without Thee I can do nothing ; I am but a work- 
er together with Thee ; give Thou Thy grace and 
the increase, and have mercy on my frailty. I will 
do what I can : and Thou, do what Thou hast 
promised. — Ev. Brev. 225. 

49. May a pastor allow any taste or occupa- 
tion to interfere with the careful preparation of 
his sermons ? 



The Pastor Preaching. 77 

No : therefore he should avoid worldly oc- 
cupations, and be watchful of his habits. 

SO. Ought he write his sermons ? 

Quenstedt says: "Especially for young 
pastors and those of little experience, it is 
not only useful but necessary, as well for the 
sake of greater confidence in the delivery as 
in order to acquire a complete vocabulary, 
and also for memory's sake. But after a 
while, I think, the method may be changed. 
Those who have had plenty of practice, and 
are provided with a store of material and 
words, may, especially when press of duties 
compels^ it, write down only the chief mat- 
ters, the arguments of each division, the 
proofs and the illustrations, and at the same 
time indicate the most suitable language." 
{Ethic, pastoral, iij s. W. p. JJ.} 

It may be added that it is not the Luther- 
an method to read sermons. The great peril 
of "extemporaneous preachers, ''the dan- 
ger of continual repetition, may be guarded 



78 The Evangelical Pastor. 






against by conscientious preparation, and by 
resolutely confining ourselves to the particu- 
lar text and particular theme in each dis- 
course. 

jfl.~ What is the first requisite of a sermon ? 

It should contain simply the Word of God. 
i Pet. 4 : ii ; Acts 26 : 22 ; Rom. 12 : 7 ; 
Jer. 23: 28 ; 2 Tim. 2 : 15. (W.) 

52. Can any man be sure he is speaking 
God's Word? 

' ' Whoever cannot say this of his sermon 
had better not preach, for he is lying and 
blaspheming against God. ' ' Luther, Wider 
Hans Wurst, 1541. 

5J\ Give Dr. Walther's remark. 

' l To purity of doctrine it is necessary that 
the Word of truth be rightly divided, 2 Tim. 
2 : 15, that is, that the Law and the Gospel 
be properly distinguished. He who takes * 
away the sharpness of the Law by the Gos- 
pel, and the sweetness of the Gospel by the 
Law ; he who so teaches as to comfort and 



The Pastor Preaching. 79 

secure, and still more he who terrifies, those 
already terrified by their sins ; he who directs 
those who have been convicted by the Law 
to prayer only, instead of directing them to 
the Means of Grace ; he who so expounds 
the Law, its requirements and its threats as 
to produce the impression that God is satis- 
fied if a Christian does as much as he can, 
and overlooks frailties ; or makes the Gospel 
a comfort for the pious only ; he who seeks 
to lead the unregenerate to good works by 
means of the demands, threats and promises 
of the Law, and requires of those who are 
still without faith that they give up sin and 
love God and their neighbor; he who de- 
mands a certain degree of repentance and 
comforts only those who have become new 
creatures ; he who changes / cannot believe 
into I dare not believe and the like ; such an 
one does not rightly divide the Word of 
Truth, but confuses Law and Gospel ; and 
though he preaches both Law and Gospel, 
his doctrine is false." 



80 The Evangelical Pastor. 

Ez. 3 : 17-21 — " The great principle to be derived 
from this passage is, that the souls entrusted to a 
pastor's care must be warned by the Divine Word, 
by what that Word says about godless and un- 
righteous conduct, about apostasy and punish- 
ment, about conversion and life. This part of the 
divine Word in particular, therefore, is not to be _ 
passed over, must rather be applied to the various 
relations and persons concerned. He who fails 
to do this, — he who, for example, takes all the 
people in church or in a private meeting to be 
good Christians, and addresses them as if they 
were already converted men, or members of 
Christ's body, while there are yet among them the 
godless, the unconverted, the dead, backsliders, 
the lukewarm, and the indifferent, — he who does 
not say this, and warn his people of it, is responsi- 
ble before God for all the souls whom he lulls to 
sleep, or at least leaves unwarned or unawakened 
by his silence regarding the divine severity, and 
by his illusive pictures of the Christian life." — 
Past. TheoL, Beck. p. 61. 

54. Who then is sufficient for these things ? 

" The Holy Ghost must here be master and 
teacher, or no man on earth can understand, 
much less teach.' ' — Luther. 



The Pastor Preaching. 81 

55. What is the second requisite of a sermon ? 
That God's Word be rightly applied in it. 
2 Tim. 3 : 16, 17. (W.) 

§6. What rules are given for the proper ap- 
plication of the Word ? 

2 Tim. 3 : 16, 17 ; Rom. 15 : 4. 

57. What is the third requisite ? 

That it declare the whole counsel of God. 
Acts 20 : 20, 26, 27. (W.) 

58. Explain this. 

Every sermon should contain so much of 
the Order of Salvation, that if it were the 
only sermon a person could hear, it would 
not leave him in ignorance of the way of life. 
A sermon should not preach of faith, without 
showing how to obtain faith. The doctrine 
of good works and of sanctification should 
not be overlooked. But the Gospel ought 
to be preached principally. No important 
doctrine and no common duty, but should 
receive attention in the course of the year. 



The Evangelical Pastor. 



jp. What is the fourth requisite ? 

That it should answer to the special need 
of the hearers. Luke 12 : 42 ; 1 Cor. 3*1, 
2; Heb. 5 : 11 ;6: 2. (W.) 

60. What is the fifth ? 

That the sermon be seasonable. Matt. 
16 : 3. (W.) 

61. The sixth ? 
That it be well arranged. 

62. The seventh ? 
That it be not too long. 

6j. What are the requisites of a sermon, ac- 
cording to the Kirchenordnung of Electoral Sax- 
ony, 1580 ? 

It must be to edification, on the pericope, 
not long, for week-days as well as Sundays, 
delivered at an appointed hour, adapted to 
the hearers, and not on secular topics. 

64. What, after all, is the sine qua non of an 
effective sermon ? 

The wisdom that cometh from above. Dr. 
Walther says : " He who does not stand in 



The Pastor Preaching. 8$ 

daily communion with God, who does not 
from his experience of himself know the de- 
ceitfulness and bottomless corruption of the 
human heart, nor has experienced and daily- 
experiences the manner in which the Holy 
Ghost operates in his own soul ; he who does 
not pray when he approaches his text in or- 
der that, comparing it with the condition of 
his hearers, he may find the very matter to 
be treated, who does not pray when he goes 
to develop it, who does not pray when he 
goes to memorize, who does not pray when 
about to go into the pulpit, who, in short, 
does not beg God to give him the right ser- 
mon and then rise to preach anointed with 
the spirit of prayer — such an one cannot 
preach a right sermon. It may be that after 
a sermon born and delivered as we have ad- 
vised, no one will cry out, What a sermon ! 
that hardened hearts will go out of God's 
house silent, and rather not speak of it, yet 
so much the more feel driven to speak of it 
with God ; but far from this being no result, 



84 The Evangelical Pastor. 

it is the very best result. Great praise often 
is a suspicious sign. And such praises often 
end in — nothing. ' ' 

<5j '. Have you anything to add ? , 
Three helpful suggestions : i. It is best to 
preach on the lessons for the day. 2. You 
ought to meditate on your text all week. 
3. First let it preach its full meaning to your- 
self. 



V. 
HOLY BAPTISM. 

66. What is necessary to a valid baptism ? 
That one be baptized with water in the 

Name of the Father and of the Son and of 
the Holy Ghost. 

67. Is it not proper to say, Into the Name, 
etc. 

He who says, In the Name, really baptizes 
into the*Name, and acts in the Name of the 
Triune God, who Himself baptizes. Both 
prepositions are used in the New Testament ; 
and here also the rule should be observed, 
that it is not right to depart from the custom 
of the Church. 

68. Is a Baptism " In the Name of Jesus 
Christ, M or " In the Name of the Holy Trini- 
ty" or "In the Name of God our Father, 

85 



86 The Evangelical Pastor. 

Christ our Redeemer, and the Holy Ghost our 
Sanctifier, ' ' valid or invalid ? 

Not necessarily invalid ; but " It is safest 
to cleave to the words of Christ, and to use 
no other form of words than that prescribed by 
Christ Himself." — Gerhard's Loci, 20, 90. 

69. What rules should be observed concern- 
ing the water of Baptism ? 

It makes no difference whether it be taken 
from a stream or a cistern, or whether it be 
warm or cold ; except that for the sake of the 
infants to be baptized it is better that it be 
not too cold. 

70. There is on record a baptism with sand 
in the desert, there being no water at hand : 
What do you say of that ? 

It was not Baptism, which is the water 
comprehended in God's command. The 
person here described should have put his 
trust in God's Word and not feared that he 
would be lost without the Baptism which he 
wished for but could not get. 



Holy Baptism. 87 



77. What say you of the mode of Baptism ? 

' ' As the word Baptize signifies in the ori- 
ginal every kind of washing (Mark 7 : 4) and 
since by the outward form of Baptism is sig- 
nified not merely our burial with Christ (Rom. 
6 : 3, 4) ; but also the washing away of sins 
(Acts 22 : 16), the outpouring of the Holy 
Ghost (Tit. 3 : 5, 6), and the sprinkling with 
the blood of Christ (Heb. 13 : 22 ; cf. Ex. 
24 : 8 ; Heb. 9:19;! Cor. 10 : 2) ; as more- 
over the object of the application of water is 
not the washing of the body, but it signifies 
the washing of the soul by the Word ; and 
as, finally, the efficacy of Baptism is not hid- 
den in the water, and therefore much water 
can accomplish no more than a little ; there- 
fore all the modes of Baptism we have men- 
tioned are {ceteris paribus) valid. — Walther. 

72. Ought a Lutheran minister immerse a 

person ? 

He ought not depart from the custom of 
the Church at his own pleasure ; and to do so 



88 The Evangelical Pastor. 

because the candidate for Baptism regarded 
immersion as the only right mode, would be 
to countenance falsehood. 

7j. In what manner ought the minister con- 
fer Baptism ? 

Let him take the child on his left arm, its 
head lying in his left palm, and thus holding 
its head directly over the font, let him three 
times apply water to its head plentifully with 
his right hand, saying as he does so, N. N., 
I baptize thee in the Name of the Father, and 
of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. 

7^. Ought the minister inquire whether the 
person to be baptized, has been baptized? 

He ought ; because Baptism ought not be 
repeated. 

75. Is the Baptism of the Roman Catholic 
Church or of other Protestant Churches valid ? 

It is ; it is the application of the water in 
the Name of the Father and of the Son and 
of the Holy Ghost. 



Holy Baptism. 89 



y6. What Baptism ought a pastor reject as 
invalid ? # 

If water were not used ; if the Baptism was 
not in the Name of the Father and of the 
Son and of the Holy Ghost. 

77. But what if the proper formula and pro* 
per material were used, yet in a religious body 
which ex-prof esso denies the doctrine of the Trin- 
ity and the Godhead of our Lord, and uses 
the form of sound words in another sense ? 

It is better to baptize a person who has re- 
ceived such Baptism. (See, however, Ketz- 
ertaufe, in Herzog, Realenc. VII. 652. 

See also Hartmann, I. viii. 17, p. 151. 
Jam vero ab heterodoxo ministro, cum asper- 
sio aquae in nomine Patris, Filii et Spiritus 
Sancti Janquam substantiale adhibetur, ad- 
ministratus Baptismus integer censetur. 

7<?. What shall be done in the case of adults, 
who are uncertain whether they ever were bap- 
tized? 



90 The Evangelical Pastor. 

If all possible inquiry fails of certainty, 
then they should be baptized. 

7p. Who have a right to bring a child to 
Baptism ? 

Its parents ; or those who stand to it in 
loco parentis. 

80. Has a minister a right to baptize a child 
whose parents object ? 

No. 

81. But if one parent objects, and the other 
desires it ? 

He should not refuse to baptize the child. 

82. What is the ground of these answers ? 
Only those should be baptized of whom 

we have reason to hope that they will be 
brought up godly. 

83. Is it right then to refuse Baptism to the 
children of a person in the parish who does not 
live an exemplary life ? 

No ; we ought not deny Baptism to a child 
in order to discipline its parents. 



Holy Baptism. 91 



' ' No pastor shall omit the Baptism of the 
little children on account of the sin or impen- 
itence of their parents." — Saxon General 
Articles, 1557. 

The pastor is not to delay a good while 
over children born out of wedlock, disputing 
concerning the paternity of the child, but is 
to baptize it, and then report to the authori- 
ties. Kursachs KO. 1580. 

84. Are monstrous births to be baptized ? 

If they are human. 

8j. Until what age may children be baptized 
on the confession and renunciation of sponsors ? 

Until they are capable of instruction which 
would fit them for confirmation. Yet if, un- 
happily, parents have neglected Baptism un- 
til their children are of such an age as to 
awaken a question in the pastor's mind, he 
should carefully instruct the child in the 
meaning of the Sacrament before baptizing it. 

86. How soon after birth should a child be 
baptized? 



92 The Evangelical Pastor. 

As soon as it can be carried to the church. 
In Germany it is customary to baptize on the 
eighth day. The law requires (or formerly 
required) baptism within from four to six 
weeks. 

87. What record of Baptism should be made? 
The birthday and place ; name ; names and 

origin of parents ; names of sponsors ; date 
of Baptism. Also, if the parents dwell not 
where the church is, their dwelling place. It 
is well also to give a certificate of Baptism. 

88. Was not the sign of the cross made upon 
the child informer time ? 

It was, and in some parts of .the Church 
this still is the usage. It is a beautiful cus- 
tom, signifying that the child has now taken 
up his cross to follow the Lord. But it does 
not seem expedient to revive this custom 
where it has fallen into disuse. 

8p. What is to be said of the old Lutheran 
form of Exorcism in the order of Baptism ? 
Recognized as an adiaphoron, it has fallen 



Holy Baptism. 93 



into disuse, and there is no reason why it 
should be revived. See Herzog, Realenc. 
IV. 456. 

go. Why should there be Sponsors in Holy 
Baptism ? 

It is a custom which has come down to us 
from earliest time. They answer in the 
child's name. They are to serve as witnesses 
of the child's Baptism, and are to exercise a 
parent's duty toward the child, in case the 
parents fail to do so or are taken away. 

gi. Who then may be admitted as Sponsors ? 

Only such as may be relied on to perform 
this duty ; and therefore (1) not little chil- 
dren, (2) not. such to whose instruction and 
example the parents would refuse to entrust 
their children, (3) and not unbelievers, or 
those who, being addicted to another faith, 
would refuse to bring up the child in the faith 
confessed by our Church. 

See Kursachs. KO. 1580. Also Goslar 

KO. 1531. 



94 The Evangelical Pastor. 

p2. Can a member of the Lutheran Church 
be Sponsor for a child baptized in another com- 
munion ? 

He cannot promise to bring up a child to 
believe that which he does not believe to be 
the Truth of God. 

pj. How many Sponsors should there be ? 

It is usual to have three ; but it makes no 
difference how many or how few there are ; 
although there is danger of having too many- 
through unworthy motives. 

P4. May an absent Sponsor answer through 
a proxy ? 

This is not objectionable. 

PS* IV hat is the Sponsor's peculiar duty in 
the Baptismal Service ? 

To renounce the devil and confess the 
Christian faith in the name of the child. 

p6. Is it their promise or the child *s ? 
The child's. 

P7* What is their further duty ? 



Holy Baptism. 95 



To teach the child what a solemn promise 
they have made in its name, and to bring it 
into the communion of the Church. 

p8. Is Lay- Baptism admissible ? 

Certainly, when a pastor's services cannot 
be had. 

pp. What is essential in such a case ? 

The application of water in the Name of 
the Father and of the Son and of the Holy 
Ghost. 

100. Who may confer it ? 

The father of the child is a suitable person ; 
or another believer of reverend character ; or 
a believing woman. 

1 ' All Doctors of former time have acknowl- 
edged that if a woman, though she be not an 
anointed priest, baptize in case of need with 
water, though it has not been consecrated, 
in the Name of the Father and of the Son 
and of the Holy Ghost, such Baptism is the 
real Baptism of Christ ; and if a priest baptize 
the child again, he does wrong.' ' Lubeck 
KO. 1531. See Gerhard, L. 20, 23. 



g6 The Evangelical Pastor, 

l oi. What is further to be said of such Bap- 
tism ? 

The Saxon Kirchenordnung of 1539, for 
instance, advises that the pastor admonish 
the people not lightly to hasten to such Bap- 
tism ; but when it is required by extreme ne- 
cessity let all present unite in prayer, say the 
Lord's Prayer, then let the child be baptized 
in the name of the Father and of the Son and 
of the Holy Ghost ; nor are they at all to 
doubt that this is a valid Baptism, which need 
not be repeated. This KO. also provides a 
form for a public acknowledgment of such a 
Baptism, after careful examination of the wit- 
nesses as to the manner in which it was done. 
{Richter I. 309.) See also Lutheran Church 
Review, Philadelphia, September, 1882. 

102. Should Baptism be in public or in pri- 
vate ? 

Children ought to be baptized in the 
Church, that the congregation may pray for 
them, and also be reminded of their own 
Baptism. Kursachs. Vis. 1328. 



Holy Baptism. 97 



ioj. Give suitable fowns of prayer for a min- 
ister, before and after baptizing a child. 

O Lord Jesus, Who hast said that no man can 
enter into the kingdom of God except he be born 
again of water and of the Spirit, and yet hast prom- 
ised the Kingdom of Heaven to the little chil- 
dren, — see, we forbid them not, but bring a little 
child to Thee. Give, then, O dearest Lord, to the 
parents and sponsors of this child right prepara- 
tion of heart, and vouchsafe to them Thy Holy 
Spirit, that they may faithfully pray to Thee. And 
to me, Thy servant, grant Thy Spirit and Thy 
grace, that I may do aright what Thou hast en- 
joined. It is Thy Baptism ; I am but Thy hand 
and instrument. Acknowledge Thy Baptism and 
Thy servant, who am about to give Thy Sacrament 
at Thy command and trusting Thy precious prom- 
ises. Bless and consecrate the water, that it may 
be to this child a washing of regeneration. Hear 
this my prayer, I beseech Thee, for the sake of the 
precious blood which was shed for us. — Ev. Brev., 

182. 

Afterwards. 

I thank Thee, Lord Jesus Christ, that Thou hast 
given Holy Baptism to this little child through 



98 The Evangelical Pastor. 

me, Thy servant. I pray Thee, give also the in- 
crease. I have baptized with water ; baptize Thou 
with the Holy Ghost, who now hath been poured 
out over this child and hath come into his heart as 
a pledge. Let Thy Spirit, O Lord Jesus, every day 
do Thy holy will in this child, that he ever may be 
mindful of this covenant with Thee, that if he fall 
he may rise up again, and find comfort in Holy 
Baptism, and that he may evermore know its pre- 
cious fruits ; for Thy dear Name's sake. — 186. 



VI. 

PREPARATION 
FOR THE HOLY SACRAMENT. 

See Klee, Die Beichte, 1828 ; Binterim, Denk- 
wicrdigkeiten, Bd. 5 ; Augusti, Denkwurdigkeiten, 
Bd. 9 ; Ackermann, Die Beichte, 1852 ; Steitz, Das 
rom. Buszsakrament, 1854 ; the same, Die Privat- 
beichte und Privatab solution aus den Quellen des 
16. Jahrh. 1854 ; Kliefoth, Die Beichte und Abso- 
lution, 1855 ; Pfisterer, Luther's Lehre von der 
Beichte, 1857 ; Kaehlbrandt, Ueber Absolutions- 
praxis, (Dorpater Zeits.f. TheoL u. Kirche,) 1860, 
3. Also Richter, Ev. KOO. des 16. Jahrh.; Daniel, 
Codex Liturgicus, vol. 2 ; Richard Baxter, The 
Reformed Pastor ; J. A. Earnest, The Preparatory 
Service in the Lutheran Ch. in the Lutheran Quar- 
terly^ Jan., 1886. 

Books of Devotion and Communion- Books. — 
Luther's Betbuchlein ; His Church- and House* 
Po stills ; Arndt's True Christianity ; The writings 

99 



ioo The Evangelical Pastor. 

of Habermann, Marperger, Fresenius, Rittmeyer, 
Stark, Roos., Dann, Goszner (Schatzkastlein), 
KapfT, Lohe {Samenkoerner des Gebets), Delitzsch, 
DiefTenbach {Wort u. Sacrament; Ev. Hausagen- 
de^ Ev. Hausandachten) ; Allgemeines Gebetbuch, 
publ. by direction of the Allgem. Luth. Confer- 
enz, Leipzig, 1883. 

104. What preparation should be required of 
those who wish to receive the Holy Communion? 

St. Paul says, Let a man examine himself, 
and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of 
that cup ; 1 Cor. 11:28. And the rule of 
our Church is set forth in the XXV. Article 
of the Augsburg Confession : " It is not usu- 
al to communicate the body of our Lord, 
except to those who have been previously 
examined and absolved." 

103. What was the original mode of that ex- 
aminatidn and absolution ? 

Nearly all the Kirchenordnungen of the 
XVI. Century require that every one who 
wishes to receive the Sacrament shall person- 
ally give notice of his wish to the pastor, who 






Preparation for the Holy Sacrament. 101 

may then discover whether he needs special 
instruction and comfort him with the Abso- 
lution. The normal method was to have a 
service in the church on the Saturday after- 
noon before the Communion, after which the 
communicant came to the minister ; and often 
the service was appropriately closed after this 
Beichte or confession. 

io6> Wherein did this Beichte differ from 
the Roman Auricular Confession ? 

See the Schmalkald Articles, Part III., 
Article III. The Roman Church requires 
confession at least once a year ; it requires 
the enumeration of sins, teaching that every 
unconfessed sin is also unforgiven ; it ascribes 
to the absolving priest judicial authority ; and 
the confessional is used for the imposition of 
penance, whereby the merit of our Lord Je- 
sus Christ is obscured. On the other hand, 
the pattern of a right confession and absolu- 
tion is to be seen in the Book of Concord (M. 
P- 363), in the Small Catechism, Part V. See 



io2 The Evangelical Pastor. 

also Saxon KO. 1539, Richterl. 310, Luther, 
26, 296 ss. 

107. Did our Reformers retain private con- 
fession merely as a concession to Rome f 

No, but for the sake of the young and un- 
instructed, for the comfort of troubled con- 
sciences, and for the sake of the Absolution, 

" The chief end of Confession in the Church is 
to bring sinners back to Baptismal grace, as the 
indispensable prerequisite of a worthy use of the 
Lord's Supper." Zockler, Enc. III. 173* He 
quotes Cat. Maj. 497. 79. 

See also Brunswick KO. 1528. " No one is to 
receive the Sacrament without giving account of 
his life to the preacher, that not through his neg- 
lect some should go to the Sacrament unworthily 
and unto condemnation." 

108. Is private Confession^ and Absolution 
then necessary, according to the spirit of the Lu- 
theran Church? 

Our Reformers, Confessions and Kirchen- 
ordnungen repeat that it is not to be made 
compulsory. Luther also says, in a note to 



Preparation for the Holy Sacrament. 103 

the Saxon Visitation Articles {edition of 
1538), Richter I. p. 91 : 

" If the pastor himself or a preacher, bu- 
sied in such matters every day, desire to go 
to the Sacrament without confession or ex- 
amination, he shall not be forbidden. The 
same rule may apply to other intelligent per- 
sons who are conscious that they are well 
informed : that we may not make a new 
Bapstzwang or compulsory custom out of 
such confession, which we should and must 
have/ra?. And I myself sometimes go with- 
out confession, that I may not make it a 
matter of compulsion to my conscience. On 
the other hand, I use confession, and do not 
wish to be without it, most of all for the sake 
of the Absolution, i. e., God's Word. For 
the young and the rude must be drawn and 
taught in a way different to that we use with 
the intelligent and experienced." 

Again he says (Richter I. 92), "Again let 
not those be compelled (provided they have 
a good report for faith and knowledge of the 



104 The Evangelical Pastor. 

doctrine of Christ) who wish to confess to 
God alone, and thereupon take the Sacra- 
ment. For each then takes it upon his own 
conscience, as St. Paul says, Let a man ex- 
amine hints elf y 

In the Formula Missce, 1523, Luther says, 
' ' I think it enough that this questioning or 
exploration should be made with each who 
wishes to receive the communion, once in 
the year. But no one can be so intelligent 
as to need to be examined but once in his 
whole life, or even never. ' ' 

See also Warming schr if t an die zu Frank- 
fort, etc., 1533. 26, p. 294. " If I had 
thousands and thousands of worlds, I would 
rather lose them all than let one particle of 
this Beicht go out of the Church. Yes, I 
would rather bear the tyranny of the Pope in 
fasts, festivals, vestments, places, and caps, 
so far as it can be borne without harm to 
faith, than that the Beicht should^be taken 
from Christians. For it is the first, most 
needful, and most useful school of Christian 



Prepai-ation for the Holy Sacrament. 105 

men, wherein to learn to understand and use 
God's Word and their faith ; which they can- 
not learn so well from public reading and 
preaching. * * * For the sake of this 
part (the Absolution) do I use Beicht most 
of all, and cannot get along without it ; for 
often, yes daily, it gives me the greatest com- 
fort when I am troubled and burdened. 

"Though a minister may preach both the 
Law and the Gospel, he does not from the 
pulpit ask and try how his hearers have tak- 
en it in ; he cannot see wherein he has failed 
of his purpose, or which of them needs fur- 
ther comfort or rebuke." pp. 309-311. 

109. Is it in use anywhere in the Lutheran 
Church ? 

It is, in some parts of Germany. There 
are many cases in which it might be of great- 
est benefit. And every pastor frequently re- 
ceives private confession and ought to impart 
the Absolution. 

no. Give me some account of the history of 
this custom ? 



io6 



The Evangelical Pastor. 



The following is from Dr. Theodosius Har- 
nack, in Zockler IV. 438. ' ' Beichte, as a cus- 
tom of the Church, is indeed not command- 
ed in the Scriptures, neither was it known in 
the Old-Catholic Church ; yet, especially on 
account of the Absolution, which is ordained 
of God (Matt. 16 : 19 ; 18 : 18 ss. ; John 20 : 
22, 23), it is a wholesome and appropriate 
institution of the Church, in its essence going 
back to the time of the Apostles (James 5 : 
16), and needful in the Church. She needs 
it partly as the centre and fulcrum of her 
whole pastoral activity, and partly as a bar 
against an unworthy use of the Holy Supper 
(Matt. 7 : 6). 

' ' Let us cast a glance upon the history of 
the evolution of the custom. When the 
masses pressed into the church after Constan- 
tine, the old penitential discipline (see Klie- 
foth, Die Beichte und Absolution^ 1855, p. 
19 s.) became more and more impracticable 
(see Augustini E?ichiridion ad Laurentium, 
c. 80, §21). In the Eastern Church also the 



Preparation for the Holy Sacrament, 107 



1 Presbyter for Repentance, ' appointed since 
the Third Century to take cognizance of se- 
cret sins, was, because of certain offenses, 
done away in 390. In the West, however, 
where Cyprian, Ambrose and Augustine laid 
the foundation, of whom the latter rightly 
ascribed to the Church the power to forgive 
sins in the name of God, and not merely to 
retain them (Cyprian) — though they erred 
in basing this power not on the Means of 
Grace, but upon the legitimacy of the minis- 
try — the construction of the peculiar Roman 
practice of Confession and Absolution began 
under Leo the Great. Leo's work was this : 
Abrogation of the Penance for gross sins 
which could be made only once, and estab- 
lishment of the permission to repeat penance ; 
extension of penance to the whole Church, 
inasmuch as he gave to the whole of Lent 
the aspect of a penitential season ; introduc- 
tion of private confession (before the priest) 
of secret gross sins. Gregory the Great 
completed Leo's work by extending the prac- 



108 The Evangelical Pastor. 

tice of confession to all sins, and by regard- 
ing every sin not confessed to a priest as a 
peccatum irremissibile. (See Lau, Gregor 
der Grosze> nach s. Leben u. s. Lekre, 1845). 
The following Centuries introduced these 
principles into common life, and reconciled 
them with the popular customs and rights of 
the Germanic world. Then originated the 
Penitential Books. (See Wasserschleben, 
Die Buszordnungen der abendlandischen 
Kirche, 185 1.) This development was fin- 
ished under Innocent III., in the 21st Canon 
of the Lateran Council of 12 15 (Omnis utri- 
usque sexus fidelis), which declared that ' au- 
ricular J confession to the priest acting and 
judging in the place of God, at least once 
every year, is obligatory upon every Chris- 
tian. Excommunication and the Interdict 
were substituted for public penance. The 
principal penances affixed are prayer, fasts, 
alms, flagellation, pilgrimages. Then were 
added the supererogatory merits of the saints, 
and fines in money, which led to Indulgences, 



Preparation for the Holy Sacrament. 109 

in which this corruption culminated. Hier- 
archism and Pelagianism there reach their 
highest points. The Bull Unigenitus (Clem- 
ent VI. 1343) sanctions Indulgences on the 
ground of Alexander Hales' and Thomas 
Aquinas' doctrine of a Treasury of Works of 
Supererogation ; and the Council of Florence, 
1439, under Eugene IV., resolved that pceni- 
tentia (i. e. , contritio cordis > confessio oris, and 
satisf actio operis) materially is a Sacrament. 
The Council of Trent sanctions this praxis as 
one ordained by Divine Law. The Reforma- 
tion, which was provoked by the Indulgences, 
made much of Beichte on account of the Ab- 
solution, but declared most emphatically 
against the Roman Auricular Confession with 
its requirement of the confession of every sin. 
Before all others Luther (in the Theses, 38)* 

* At the beginning he makes no distinction be- 
tween Absolution by a brother and Absolution by 
the minister, yet adds that no pne has the keys 
except he who has the Holy Ghost ; that is no 



no The Evangelical Pastor. 

lays much stress on Beicht (XX. 59 ; XVII. 
2452 ss.), especially on account of the Abso- 
lution (XL 804^ 849) ; adding, however, that 
no one ought to be compelled to it, but should 
be and remain free (XIX. 1062, 1075 ; XX. 
60 ; XVII. 2447). And he here refers to the 
Beicht itself without reference to its prepara- 
tion for the Holy Supper. He requires a 
pastor to keep absolute silence as to the mat- 
ters confessed to him : ' For / hear not, nor 
do /absolve ; it is Christ (XXII. 879)/ Our 
Confessions take the same ground, but with 
stronger emphasis on the regular ministry. 
(See Augs. Conf. Art. XI. XXV. Apol. 173, 
181 ; Larger and Small Cat., Smalk. Art. 
III., 8, all the Kirchenordnungen, and our 
older Dogmaticians.) They all define the 
Absolution as a beneficium seu gratia, not as 
a judicium seu lex (Apol. 185), and regard 

other than the Christian Church, the assembly of 
all believers in .Christ (XIX. 1052 ss. A. D. 1521. 
On the other hand see XL 1038, 1373). 






Preparation for the Holy Sacrament. 1 1 1 

it not as declarative merely but as conferring, 
as actually imparting the forgiveness of sins 
by virtue of the office of the keys instituted by 
Christ. On the other hand, the Reformed 
Church declared not only against Roman 
confession, but also against the Lutheran 
doctrine concerning the Absolution and con- 
sequently against private confession. But to 
absolve is as little a mere brotherly admoni- 
tion (as the Swiss hold) as it is a judicial ac- 
tion (according to the Romish doctrine) ; it 
is a ministerial distribution and application 
of grace to individual persons in the Name 
of God, and it presupposes a personal con- 
fession of sin and opening of the contrite 
heart. 

1 ' We have yet to mention the controversy 
that broke out in Nuremberg concerning the 
Public Confession introduced into the service 
in addition to Private Confession, i. e. a 
confession read after the sermon, together 
with a conditional absolution and retention. 
Andreas Osiander declared against this, 



ii2 The Evangelical Pastor. 

but Luther and the Wittenbergers when 
consulted tried to mediate (See Luther's Let- 
ters and the Gutachten of the Wittenberg 
Theologians in De Wette, IV. 444 ss. ; 465 
ss. ; 480 ss.). 

1 ' During the Thirty Years' War the cus- 
tom of Confession and of Discipline in our 
Church fell. After the war the Kirchenord- 
nungen with their firm requirement of Private 
Confession were renewed, but the Church 
was made a sort of police institute, and Con- 
fession, degraded to a compulsory and for- 
mal matter, became a pillow for bold sinners, 
in the hands of unconscientious or fanatical 
pastors a scourge of the people, and a torture 
of the conscientious ; so that Heinrich Muller 
(in his Erquickungsstunderi) reckons it as 
one of the four dumb idols of the Church, 
and Spener calls the confessional ' a frightful 
torture of the conscience,' and ' one of the 
greatest corruptions of the Church/ Its 
monarchy had to be broken, but we cannot 
enough lament its complete fall. Groszbauer, 



Preparation for the Holy Sacrament. 113 

Professor at Rostock (in his Wachterstim- 
men, 1661), was the first to urge the abroga- 
tion of Private Confession. Then followed 
Pietism, which did not know how to appre- 
ciate the essence and value of the Absolution 
and the Ministry, and against which such 
men as Loscher, Wernsdorf, Neumeister and 
others were not able to maintain it ; finally 
came Rationalism, which was conscious of 
no sin to confess. Only in modern times 
has the need of the restoration of Private 
Confession in connection with the usual pub- 
lic and common confession, made itself more 
and more felt. See especially the lecture by 
Ackermann before the Kirchentag at Bre- 
men, 1852 ; and compare the Erlanger Zeit- 
schrift fiir Prot., Vol. 5, and Steinmeyer, 
Die spezielle Seels org e, pp. 93 ss. " 

in. \fy hat general rule would you then pro- 
pose for those who wish to receive the Holy Sup- 
per ? 

None other than that of the Augsburg Con- 



ii4 The Evangelical Pastor. 

fession : That it should not be our custom to 
communicate the body of our Lord except to 
those who have been previously examined and 
absolved. 

112. On what points should they be exam- 
ined? 

The Lutheran Kirchenordnungen direct 
the pastor to examine them as to their knowl- 
edge and understanding of the summary of 
our faith contained in the Catechism, in such 
a way as to instruct them in those points in 
which they need instruction. He should en- 
deavor to discover whether any are troubled 
in conscience and to comfort such. And as 
a steward of the mysteries of God, and also 
for the sake of one who otherwise might eat 
and drink condemnation to himself, he should 
speak plainly to those who are living in open 
sin. 

See Chemnitz Ex. Cone. Trid. II., VIII., 
VII. 402. He makes the Words of Institu- 
tion the basis of Examination. 



Preparation for the Holy Sacrament 115 

iij. Has a pastor a right to exclude such 
from the Communion ? 

This is the province of the congregation, 
not of the pastor alone. 

[It is but right to add that there are two sides to 
this question. The old Kirchenordnungen leave 
it to the discretion of the pastor. Dr. Walther 
argues {Pastorale p. 161 ff.) that it would be wrong 
for a pastor to administer the Holy Communion 
to one who had fallen into open, mortal sin, and 
shows no repentance, one who has stolen but re- 
fuses to make restitution, or one who having 
calumniated and offended another or the whole 
congregation, or having been thus offended or 
calumniated, refuses to be reconciled. On this 
side of the question he quotes Amsdorf, Sauber- 
tus (^1646), and Paulus Tarnov (^1633) ; but on 
the other, Luther's quotation from Hilary, in the 
Larger Catechism (M. 508. 59), Gerhard, Dietrich, 
and the Saxon Gen. Articles. 

See also Hartmann, III. xxxvii. and xxxviii. 
Brunnemann alleges the memorable saying of 
Chrysostom, "I would rather die than give the 
sacred mysteries to one impenitent/ ' B. again 
distinguishes between a case of notorious and one 



n6 The Evangelical Pastor. 



of less-known unworthiness. Kursachs KO. 1580 
says, " No haste shall be here, but as above ad- 
vised the grades of admonition shall be observed, 
and therefore no one shall be excluded from the 
Holy Supper on the knowledge of the Pastor 
alone."] 

114. Can this examination be made on the 
Saturday preceding the Communion ? 

It is evident that much of it belongs to the 
Catechetical Class, and much of it must be 
done in the course of pastoral visitation. 

115. What have you to say to the admission 
of '" strangers ' ' to the Holy Supper ? 

The rule for the admission of such should 
not be laxer than that which applies to one's 
own and well-known flock. 

"The Sacrament is not to be given to members 
of another parish without good reasons, but they 
are to be admonished to seek it of their own pas- 
tors ; but such as are well-known, who for a long 
time have not been able to be at home, or who 
cannot receive Christian service at the hand of 
their own pastors, or have some other fair reason, 



Preparation for the Holy Sacrament, 117 

after they have been examined shall be admitted. " 
Brand. Nur. KO. 1533. 

116. What have you to say of the Absolu- 
tion ? 

It is the essential part of the churchly pre- 
paration for the Sacrament. When given 
publicly, as in the Preparatory Service usual 
among us, the form of retention must always 
be used, because an unconditional absolution 
cannot be given to a number of persons in- 
discriminately. 

117. Should the pastor record the names of 
the Communicants? 

He should. It is best for this purpose to 
keep an alphabetical list of all the confirmed 
members of the church, with a record of their 
presence at or absence from the Communion. 
It will yield many a valuable suggestion as 
to the spiritual life of his people. 

118. Should an unbaptized person be admit- 
ted to the Holy Supper ? 

No. 



n8 The Evangelical Pastor. 

up. Ought the Holy Supper be given to lit- 
tle children, as it is given in the Greek Church 
immediately after Baptism, and as seems to have 
been done in ancient time ? 

St. Paul requires that those who are about 
to receive it ' ' examine themselves. ' ' There- 
fore it is not for those who are too young for 
self-examination. 

120. Has this rule a further application ? 
By it may be decided what should be done 

in reference to persons of weak mind or idiot- 
ical ; and it applies also where a pastor is 
asked to give the Holy Supper to a sick per- 
son of doubtful consciousness. 

121. Has a pastor the right to exclude those 
whom he suspects or others suspect of unbelief 
or immorality ? 

These he may affectionately warn in pri- 
vate against an unworthy use of the Holy 
Supper ; but he must not deny the Holy 
Supper to them, 



Preparation for the Holy Sacrament . 119 

11 If a person come to Beicht whom I suspect, I 
ought diligently question him on all points. If he 
absolutely deny, then I ought to respect his denial 
above my own suspicion. And if he persist and 
ask for the Sacrament, I ought to give it to him. 
Christ gave the Sacrament to Judas, whom He had 
before privately admonished ; but to his hurt and 
condemnation. To such we ought to say, Whoev- 
er receives the Sacrament unworthily, eats and 
drinks condemnation to himself. Many cover 
their sin and vice by receiving the Sacrament. 
But we have to tolerate such hypocrites ; they will 
be manifest one day, for God cannot be de- 
ceived." 

Luther, in Gessert p. 352. See also Hartmann, 
III. xxxi. 

122. What should he do in reference to those 
who factious ly deny the true doctrine concerning 
the Holy Stepper ? 

Kursachs. KO. 1580. " Those moreover 
who have fallen into error in belief concern- 
ing the Holy Supper, shall the pastors with 
all meekness instruct thoroughly in the 
Word of God, and observe with them as 



i2o The Evangelical Pastor. 

with others the gradus adnionitionum if they 
have been enough informed out of the Word 
of God/ ' 

I2j. Ought those be admitted who are living 
in open sin ? 

Such only eat and drink condemnation to 
themselves, and are objects of Church Disci- 
pline. 

124. Bid what shall the pastor do if he is the 
only one who knows that the person is living in 
sin ? 

He shall privately admonish that person ; 
he shall withhold absolution until the person 
shows the fruits of repentance ; but if in spite 
of his admonition he or she comes to the 
Communion, the pastor has no right to affix 
a stigma by refusing the Holy Supper. 

125. What if a person confess that he has 
wronged another ? 

The pastor should require him to make 
restitution. 






Preparation for the Holy Sacrament. 121 

126. And what if one who desires the Com- 
munion is living in enmity with the congregation 
or others ? 

He should first be reconciled with his bro- 
ther. Matt. 5 : 23, 24. 



-> VII. 

THE HOLY SUPPER. 

127. What is essential to the validity of the 
administration of the Holy Supper ? 

That Bread and Wine be blessed, distribu- 
ted and received. 

128. Is it important that the Bread and Wine 
should be of a particular sort ? 

The bread must be bread : it may be of 
rye, wheat, corn, barley or oats, if so be it 
be of grain ground and baked with water ; it 
may be unleavened (as was the bread our 
Lord used) or leavened ; it may be the ordi- 
nary bread of daily use or wafer-bread. The 
wine must be the juice of the grape ; and it 
is not of importance whether it be mixed with 

water (according to ancient use) or unmixed. 
122 






The Holy Supper. - 123 

I2p. Wliy is wafer-bread generally used in 
the Lutheran Church ? 

First, because the wafers are more conve- 
nient ; and secondly, in assertion of Christian 
freedom over against the notion that only- 
leavened bread can be used. 

130. Is it not essential to the Holy Supper to 
"break " bread? 

On the contrary, it is better not to break 
it, because to break it gives color to the no* 
tion that it is a symbolical ceremony. Our 
Lord broke bread only in order to distribute 
it; and His commandment, "Do this" re- 
ferred to the whole Supper, not to the bread- 
breaking. 1 Cor. 11 : 25, cf. v. 26. 

131. What constitutes a valid consecration of 
the Holy Supper ? 

1 ' The consecration or blessing of the Eu- 
charist consists in the words of Institution 
spoken by the Son of God, through which 
institution He Himself consecrates and sanc- 
tifies bread and wine, so that by divine grace 



124 The Evangelical Pastor. 

and power they get a name which they had 
not before and are His Body and Blood.' ! 
Chemnitz* Examen Cone, Trid. P. II De 
sacr. euchar. c* vii. 

" Therefore it never must be thought that 
the minister acts here in his own strength and 
transmutes the outward symbols into the 
Body and Blood of Christ ; or that a certain 
magical force resides in the words, This is 
My Body y this is my Blood, by which bread 
and wine are converted into the Body and 
Blood of Christ ; but all this must be ascribed 
to the institution, will and power of Christ, 
viz. , that in the Holy Supper we receive the 
Body of Christ by means of the blessed bread, 
and His Blood by means of the blessed wine* 
For in this mystery it is He who acts through 
the minister ; and what He instituted, or- 
dained and promised long ago, He to this 
day actually gives : at the same time it is 
necessary that in the administration of the 
Holy Supper the words of the original insti- 
tution should be repeated, and the elements 



The Holy Supper. 125 

set apart and consecrated to their sacrament- 
al use." J. Gerhard, L. XXII. c. 3. Sec, 
15. See Philippi, Glbslehre, 2d ed. V. 2. 
367. 

132. What shall be done if all the bread or 
all the wine be consumed, while there are yet 
communicants t 

The minister shall consecrate more, by re- 
peating those words of institution which re- 
fer to that element 

133. Do the elements undergo a change in 
consequence of the repetition of these words ? 

Nihil habet rationem Sacramenti extra 
usum divi?iitus institutum. The sacramental 
union takes place in the administration, when 
the blessed elements are given and received. 
Therefore the elements after they have been 
blessed may not be adored, and though they 
have been separated to a holy use, apart from 
that use neither are nor contain the Body 
and Blood of the Lord. 



126 The Evangelical Pastor. 

l j 4. Is a valid ordination of the minis tr ant 
essential to a valid consecration of the Holy 
Supper ? 

It is not ; otherwise any doubt of the or- 
ders of the ministrant would throw a doubt 
upon the Sacrament. 

ijj. May the Holy Supper be administered 
by a layman, then ? 

In reference to this question, Chemnitz 
gives this answer to a canon of the Council 
of Trent : ' ' If any hold that to every 
Christian without distinction, the power is 
given without an especial and regular call to 
use and exercise the office of the Word and 
Sacraments in the Church, I answer decidedly 
and clearly that they are rightly condemned. 
For they are in conflict with the divine rule : 
How shall they preach except they be sent ? 
Rom. 10 : 15. Further, I have not sent these 
prophets ', but they ran. Jer. 23 :2i. Further, 
the rule of St. Paul, Let all things be done 
decently and in order. 1 Cor. 14 : 40. Yet 



The Holy Supper. 127 

* — 

the Church always has made an exception of 
a case of necessity, as Jerome has testified 
against the Luciferians and Augustine against 
Fortunatus. ' ' Exam. Cone. Trid. I. cap. de 
ministris sacram. 306. 

ij6. Give ?ne an instance of such necessity ? 

For instance, when one in the hour of 
death desires the Holy Sacrament, knowing 
that it has been instituted for the confirma- 
tion of the Word to the weak, and no or- 
dained minister can possibly be got (Johan- 
nes Fecht, Instruct, pastoral, c. 14. Sec. 3, p. 
157) ; or when men are shipwrecked among 
barbarians, or imprisoned, or are settled 
where no pastor can be procured (Deyling). 
See these quotations in Walther pp. 177, 
180. He quotes also Tertullian : " Where 
there are no persons of the ecclesiastical or- 
der, there offer thou, and baptize, and be 
priest for thyself. When there are but three, 
there the Church is, though all those there 
be laiash; for every one lives by his faith, and 



128 The Evangelical Pastor. 



with God is no respect of persons.'' He adds 
also : Nobody doubts that the administration 
of the Holy Supper by a person called for the 
time in a case of necessity by a whole con- 
gregation, is valid and right, even though 
that person be not ordained. 

J 37- Ought the consecration of both the bread 
and the wine precede the distribution of the 
bread ? 

This was not the universal custom ; but it 
is the better way. 

7j8. Is it proper to 7>ary the formula of dis- 
tribution ? 

Dr. Walther lays down the canon that 
while the Words of Consecration should be 
strictly those of the Lord, the words of dis- 
tribution should be the confession of the 
Church. Therefore the committee on the 
Common Service have wisely chosen the for- 
mula of the Brandenburg-Nuremberg KO. 
The formula Jeszis said ) etc. , is objectionable, 
(1) because it was the chosen formula of the 






The Holy Supper. 129 

Rationalists, who while saying what Jesus 
said, believed and taught the contrary ; and 
(2) because it can be made to imply, This is 
what He said, but you may take it as you 
please ; thus suggesting a doubt where there 
ought to be confirmation of a little or hesita- 
ting faith. 

ijg. Have you anything to add concerning 
the Co?isecration ? 

Our books direct the minister to take the 
plate, and to take the cup, when he says the 
words referring to them. Seidel advises that 
in saying the Words of Consecration, at the 
words, He took bread, the minister place his 
hand over the bread and let it rest there un- 
til he say, This is my body ; and likewise that 
he gently touch the cup at the words, He 
took the cup, and let it rest there until he 
have completed the words, This is my blood. 
In each case, as the hand is raised, he would 
have the minister make the sign of the Cross 
over the element he has blessed. 



130 The Evangelical Pastor. 

140. Would it be right to reserve bread and 
wine that had been consecrated, and at a subse- 
quent service administer them without a conse- 
cration. 

See Formula of Concord, 664, 665. " The 
Words of Institution in the Holy Supper 
should be intelligibly and distinctly sung or 
said publicly before the assembled people, 
and not in anywise omitted/' * * * * 
' ' As St. Paul says, The cup of blessing, 
which we bless ; which is not done except by 
the repetition and recitation of the Words of 
Institution. " * * * * " The command 
of Christ, This do, which embraces the whole 
action of the Sacrament, must be preserved 
whole and inviolate. To this pertains that, 
in a Christian assembly, bread and wine be 
taken, blessed, distributed, received, eaten, 
drunk, and that the death of the Lord be 
thereby shown forth ; just as St. Paul puts 
before our eyes the whole action, the break- 
ing or distribution of the bread and the re- 
ception of it, in 1 Cor. 10." 



The Holy Supper. 131 

141. What advice do you give concerning the 
Administration ? 

1. That the minister take the bread from 
the plate, and lay it in the open mouth of the 
communicant. (This custom is said to have 
originated in the desire to prevent the super- 
stitious from carrying out of the Church a 
part of the consecrated bread for magical 
uses. It is most agreeable to the nature of 
the Sacrament, however ; and to the bidding 
of the Lord, Open thy mouth wide, and I 
will Jill it. {See Commo?t Prayer-Book, Ed- 
ward VI. , 1549.) 

2. That those who receive the Bread with 
the hand should have their hands ungloved. 

3. That the minister do not give the cup 
out of his hand, but hold it so that the com- 
municant may touch it with his own hand in 
order to direct it and hold it steadily. 

4. That the minister turn the cup a little 
after the communicant has received it, so 
that the next may not touch his lips to the 
same place. 



132 The Evangelical Pastor. 

5. That after each table he wipe the mar- 
gin of the cup with a towel provided for the 
purpose. 

142. In what order should the communicants 
come to the Altar ? 

This should obey the custom of the con- 
gregation. 

14J. What shall be done if consecrated bread 
and wine remain after all the communicants 
have received ? 

The old custom is that the minister and 
church council should reverently receive it. 
There are manifest objections to this. The 
minister should be careful to provide not 
much more nor less than the proper amount 
of bread and wine. It is for this reason that 
wafers are greatly to be preferred — wafers 
that have not been given, may be kept and 
used in communicating the sick. If leavened 
bread has been used and some of it is left, it 
should be burned ; not as if it were not any 
longer bread, but because it is bread separa- 



The Holy Supper. 133 

ted to a holy use. If wine remains, it may- 
be used in the communion of the sick. 

144. Ought those who are present at the Ser- 
vice, but do not intend to receive the Holy Sup- 
per, to be dismissed? 

They should be encouraged to remain. 

14J. When, and how often ought the Holy 
Communion be received ? 

See Chemnitz, Ex. p. 409. ' ( The answer 
is to be taken 1. from the doctrine concern- 
ing the faith and efficacy of the Eucharist ; 
we should receive it as often as we acknowl- 
edge a need of that efficacy ; 2. from the 
doctrine concerning self-examination, lest we 
should receive unworthily. 

1 ' Those are not true and faithful ministers 
of Christ who in any way lead or frighten the 
people from the more frequent use of the 
communion of the Eucharist. 

" Most beautiful was the example of pure 
antiquity. Among some a daily communion 
was usual ; among some twice in the week ; 



134 The Evangelical Pastor. 






among some on Sundays, and on Wednes- 
days, Fridays and Saturdays ; among some 
on the Lord's Day only. And wKat espe- 
cially pertains to the explanation of this can- 
on, it was the custom in the ancient Church 
for the whole multitude to come together to 
the larger basilicas and there celebrate a sol- 
emn communion, that every one might show 
by public profession that he is a member of 
the Church.' ' 

See Preface to Small Catechism. 

146. Is it right for a pastor to give the Holy 
Communion to himself? 

It is not wrong for the pastor to give the 
Holy Supper to himself at the communion of 
his congregation ; and this is necessary in 
this country, where ministers are few and live 
far apart. Yet it would be of great benefit 
to every pastor to have his Beichtvater, from 
whom he could at right times receive the 
Absolution and the Holy Supper. 

Goslar KO. 153 1 (by Nic. Amsdorf). " No one 
shall hand or give the Sacrament to himself." 



The Holy Supper. 135 

Hartmann, xxxvii. 8. p. 820. "If it be asked 
whether a minister dispensing to others can also 
hand to himself the Holy Supper, under certain 
circumstances we answer in the affirmative, sub- 
scribing to the weighty sentence of the Wittenberg 
theologians, in Dedekennus I. p. 252, ' It is beyond 
all doubt that to the true use of the Supper both 
dosis and lapsis are necessary.' " (Yet they con- 
ceded it where it had long been customary.) 

Chemnitz, Exam. p. 408. "I do not think it 
conflicts with the substance of the institution of 
the Lord's Supper if the minister, who is at the 
same time communicating others, also himself eats 
of that bread and drinks of that cup, especially as 
the example of the ancient Church consents here- 
with. And this is done, without any admixture of 
superstition, in our churches." 

147. Would it be right to send the Holy Sup- 
per to a sick person, when the pastor is not able 
to go to him ? 

"Not at all; for however it maybe ex- 
plained it will be impossible to escape the 
suspicion of the popish error that there is a 
local inclusion and abiding residence of the 



136 The Evangelical Pastor. 

Body and Blood of Christ in the outward ele- 
ments, or the like error of Transubstantia- 
tion. Let him know that even the consecra- 
ted elements outside the Supper are not a 
Sacrament, for Nihil habet rationem Sacra- 
menti extra usum. As, therefore, not the 
lack, but the contempt, of the Sacrament 
condemns, there cannot be so serious a neces- 
sity as to require such a Sacrament or render 
it excusable. Add that God has not so 
bound His grace to the Sacraments that in a 
case of inevitable necessity He cannot and is 
not willing even without them to impart the 
grace of the Sacrament, i. e., the blessings 
which are promised in the Word and ordi- 
narily are sealed by the Sacrament. Let 
the sick man then be rightly informed and 
admonished concerning the efficacy of His 
Baptism : that he may understand that it is 
the contempt, and not the privation, of the 
Sacrament, which condemns. Well does 
Augustine say, Believe, and thou hast eat- 
en" Hartmann, III. xxxviii. 14. 



The Holy Supper. 137 

148. What if for a good reason it is unsafe 
for a person to receive the wine ? 

HartvianUy III. xxxviii. 6. p. 825. "As 
Luther said, If any have such a horror of 
wine that they cannot so much as taste a 
drop of it or even perceive the smell of it 
without danger of vomiting or peril to their 
health, it is safer altogether to abstain from 
the use of this Sacrament than that it should 
be administered to them under one kind 
only." 



VIII. 

MARRIAGE. 

O. v. Gerlach, Ueber die heutige Gestaltiing des 
Eherechts, 2d ed., 1842 ; J. Mueller, Ueber Ehe- 
scheidung u. Wiederverehelichung Geschiede?ier, 
1855 ; Huschke, Was lehrt Gottes Wort uber die 
Ehe scheidung, i860 ; Harlesz, Die Ehe scheidung s- 
frage y 1861 ; Rodenbeck, Von der Ehe> 1882 ; 
Thones, Die Christ/. Anschauung von der Ehe, 
Leiden, 1881. 



J4p. State in general terms a minister* s duty 
in reference to the marriages he solemnizes. 

(W.) " 1. To marry only such as may be 
married according to the laws of the State 
and the Law of God. 

"2. To marry them in the right way. 
138 



Marriage, 139 

"3. To watch that the marriage may not 
be dissolved contrary to the will of God. 

ijo. Has a minister no right to marry those 
whom the laws of the State forbid to marry ? 

He has not ; and therefore it is his duty to 
know the laws of the State in which he lives ; 
for the laws concerning marriage vary in the 
different States. But he is not bound to 
marry all whom the laws of the State permit 
to marry, if those laws do not perfectly ac- 
cord with the Law of God. 

Ijf. Ought a minister refuse to marry per- 
sons related to each other within the degrees for- 
bidden in the law of Moses {Lev, 18 : 1-20 ; 
20 : 10-23 ; Deut 27:20-23; Matt. 14:3, 
4; 1 Cor. 5 ; 7-7) ? 

He should. 

Ij2. State that lata. 



140 



The Evangelical Pastor. 





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J S3- What other precautions should a minis- 
ter take ? 

r. He should inquire whether both of the 
parties are free to marry. 

2. Whether they have the consent of their 
parents. 

154. Is a betrothal to one person an obstacle 
to marriage 701'th another ? 

The essence of marriage is the consent of 
the parties. One who has already given his 
or her word to another, is bound. A sol-» 
emn and acknowledged betrothal is by our 
Church considered the first step of marriage. 

I 55- What do you say of marriages between 
Lutherans and persons of another communion ? 

They should be discouraged, but are not 
to be forbidden. The minister should make 
clear to the parties what troubles they are 
preparing for themselves, and, as far as he 
can, provide for the Lutheran party freedom 
of conscience and of worship. 



142 The Evangelical Pastor. 



. 



156. Ought a minister solemnize a marriage 
between a Lutheran and a Jew ? 

No. 

157. What rule should be observed if a poly- 
gamist be converted to Christianity ? 

His marriage with his first wife alone is 
valid. 

158. What marriage service should be used ? 
The usual service of the Church ; and the 

peculiar custom of the congregation should 
be respected. 

J S9- What old customs of our Church deserve 
mention ? 

1. Except in a case of necessity, a mar- 
riage was to take place in the Church, before 
the congregation. 

2. The Banns were to be published for 
three weeks beforehand. 

3. The Pastor was forbidden to marry 
strangers. 

See Saxon Gen. Art,, 1557* 



c 



Marriage. 143 



160. WJ10 should marry a couple ? 

The bride's pastor; or another minister 
only after notice given to and consent ob- 
tained of the pastor. 

761. Ought the tempora clausa be observed ? 

(Advent and Lent.) It is well that they 
should, and the usual observance of them 
should be encouraged ; but it is not necessary 
to forbid marriages at these times. 

162. Ought a minister take part in a relig- 
ious service at a " Golden Wedding ?" 

He ought ; for this some of our books pro- 
vide a service. 

i6j, What is a 7tiinister s duty in regard to 
divorce ? 

1. He should bear in mind that it never is 
in his power to dissolve a marriage. 

2. In a State whose laws forbid divorce, he 
never should marry those who claim to have 
been divorced. 

3. In any State he should not marry any 
who have been divorced for other than the 



144 The Evangelical Pastor. 

cause named by our Lord ; and he should 
not marry the guilty party in this case. 

4. If persons live together unhappily, or 
even have reason to suspect one another's 
fidelity, the pastor should do all in his power 
to bring them to mutual forgiveness and help- 
fulness. 

164. If a person forsake his wife or her hus- 
band, and remain away a long time, has a min- 
ister a right to presume that the marriage has 
been dissolved? 

Only civil authority has a right to decree a 
divorce, and its decree is to be respected by 
a minister only when it accords with the law 
of God. 

163. If a man or woman marries another 
under the belief that the former husband or wife 
is dead, and he or she afterguard appears, which 
is valid, the first marriage or the second? 

The first. 

166. Does the grievous or lifelong sickness 






Marriage, 1 45 



>r the insanity of one of the parties, render a 
carriage void ? 
No. 

167. Ought a wife forsake a Ji us band who 
does not maintain her ? 

A minister should be very slow to advise 
her tb do so. 

168. If perplexi?ig questions arise, what ought 
the pastor do ? 

Seek the advice of his church council. 



IX. 

CONFIRMATION AND CATECHI- 
SATION. 

169. Has Confirmation always been in use 
in our Church? 

" Throughout all the Agenda of the XVI. 
Century Confirmation is either condemned or 
at least omitted, as in Luther's Order for 
Divine Service, the Agenda of Duke Henry 
of Saxony, the Kirchenordnung and Visita- 
tion Articles of Saxony, which has no refer- 
ence to it. Others give simply directions. 
Veit Dietrich and the oldest churches in 
North Germany have it not. Some have 
personal instructions for preparation before 
the Lord's Supper. The Swedish Orders up 
to 1693 have no Confirmation. Norway, 
146 



Confirmation and Catechisation. 147 

Denmark, Schleswig, Holstein up to XVII. 
Century do not have it. It is possible that 
Confirmation existed in Pomerania from the 
beginning. I find it in the action of a synod 
in 1540. In 1658 the full form is given in the 
Hesse Kirchenordnung and a few others ; 
but none of these are pure Lutheran. Bran- 
denburg and Calenberg have it. The Refor- 
mation of Cologne gives an argument for it. ' ' 
Dr. B. M. Schmucker : Newspaper report of 
remarks at General Council, 1885. See also 
a complete discussion by Dr. S. in the Luthe- 
ran Church Review, Philadelphia, 1883. pp. 
89 and 230. Also Essay by Rev. J. H. 
Barb in Lutheran Visitor, Summer, 1885. 

170. Why then should we observe Confirma- 
tion ? 

Mainly in order to insure the proper in- 
struction of the youth in the Church. 

171. What Order of Confirmation should be 
used ? 

That prescribed by the Synod, 



148 The Evangelical Pastor. 

172. Who should confirm the young people ? I 
Their pastor. 

173. What instruction should be given those 
preparing for Confirmation? 

The basis of it should be Luther's Small 
Catechism. They should be required to 
memorise it, and it should be explained to 
them. They ought to be required to memo- 
rise proof-texts on all important doctrines 
and be taught to reject erroneous explana- 
tions of these doctrines. And besides, they 
ought to learn the great hymns, which will 
be of use to them throughout their lives. 

174. Can all this be taught in the catecheti- 
cal class ? 

Children ought to learn the Catechism and 
such hymns by heart in the Sunday-school, 
and also should be so taught the Bible His- 
tory there that their pastor needs only refer 
to the Bible-stories in illustration. And it is 
the pastor's duty to see that the Sunday- 
school instruction be of this wholesome sort. 



Confirmation and Catechisation. 149 

Kur sacks AV., 1580, provides 

1. That no other Catechism than Luther's be 
taught. 

2. In villages the whole Catechism without the 
explanation is to be said over every Sunday before 
the Gospel. 

3. That it always is to be taught and said in ex- 
actly the same form and manner. 

4. That it is to be preached every Sunday and 
Festival afternoon. 

5. Besides the weekly examination, those are to 
be examined in it who wish to go to the Holy 
Communion for the first time. 

77 5. At what age ought a person be con- 
finned? 

It is not possible to fix an age. They ought 
to be mature enough to examine themselves, 
as St. Paul exhorts, and to receive such in- 
struction as we have indicated. 

776. Is it of any use to confirm children at 
an earlier age ? 

It is of no use ; and may be harmful. 

777. Must Confirmation always be in public f 

! 



150 The Evangelical Pastor. 

As a rule, Yes ; but the sick and those no 
longer young may be confirmed privately. 

178. What is the pastor'' s duty with reference 
to other people who desire Confirmation ? 

They also must be instructed according to 
their need. 

f/p. What is the proper time for Confirma- 
tion ? 

There is no ' ' proper ' ' time. Of old, the 
First Sunday after Easter was the usual time. 
In this country, Palm Sunday is usually 
chosen and it is an appropriate time, because 
after the preparation of Passion Week the 
young people will receive their first commu- 
nion on Easter. It is not well to confirm on 
one of the great festivals, because both the 
confirmation-thought and the Gospel for the 
day may lose effect through the interference. 

180. What is the relation between Confirma- 
tion and Baptism ? 

Baptism is a Sacrament instituted by 
Christ, and in all ordinary cases is necessary; 



Confirmation and Catechisation. 151 

Confirmation is an ordinance of the Church 
and is not essential. 

181. How should the pastor proceed if the 
candidates are of different ages, different degrees 
of intelligence, etc. ? 

It will be better to meet them at different 
times and teach them differently. 

182. How shall he proceed in a congregation 
in which catechisation is not customary , or where 
" Lectures n have taken the place of it ? 

If his endeavor to introduce catechisation 
seem to meet with little success, let him begin 
with the little children, accustom them to 
answer his questions, and continue this year 
after year, until it become the custom of the 
congregation. 

18 j. Js it well to catechise the Sunday- 
school ? 

It is. 

184. Give me the rema?'ks of Seidel about the 
preparation of the catechist ? 

See Walther, p. 270 : " Christoph Timo- 



15 2 The Evangelical Pastor. 

theus Seidel 'writes : As catechisation depends 
altogether on the catechist, it is easy to see 
that it will bear no fruit if the catechist hin- 
ders it by his own fault. A conscientious 
catechist must therefore not only most inti- 
mately know himself, and examine himself to 
see whether he has such faults in him, he 
must also watch himself lest he be to blame 
for the blindness and badness of those en- 
trusted to him and thus increase his respon- 
sibility. Whoever would have his conscience 
at peace, will therefore take the following to 
heart : (i) Whether he has made adequate 
preparation before every catechisation, and 
has himself grasped with clearness, thorough- 
ness and order the truths he is going to 
teach. (2) Whether he has come to the work 
with real love for the souls committed to him 
and takes pleasure in the work ; or whether 
it is a task, which he makes to be a burden. 
(3) Whether he can discover anything in 
what he says or in the way he says it which 
can be offensive to his catechumens. (4) 



Confirmation and Catechisation. 153 



Whether he is accustomed to such attitudes 
or gestures as may distract persons little ac- 
customed to paying attention. (5) Whether 
there is in his clothing anything unusual or 
careless, which may cause laughter or give 
offense. Consequently, we derive the follow- 
ing duties of a catechist : A catechist must 
always have in mind a clear conception of the 
truths about which he intends to ask ques- 
tions. He must impress on his mind the or- 
der in which he will ask, so that he may keep 
the thread and not jump from one thing to 
another, confusing first the catechumens and 
then himself, and at length be compelled to 
break off without finishing. We account it 
a teacher's duty to prepare himself by care- 
ful thought before every catechisation. 

" Every catechisation should have refer- 
ence to the one that preceded it. What was 
faulty or lacking in the former must be con- 
sidered, and also what will be given in the 
one to come next. The difference between 
the catechumens must be kept in view, and 



154 The Evangelical Pastor. 

the catechist must prepare for each what will 
be of benefit to him. In one case, strong 
proofs must be adduced, in another the un- 
derstanding can be prepared for more impor- 
tant matters by a few illustrations. 

1 1 We add the following : One who has 
not much practice and facility in catechisation 
will do well to prepare a considerable list of 
questions before each catechisation, and also 
to consider what answers the children may 
give to each question, and how he may meet 
their answers. Of course, he is not to be 
bound to these questions. But in the begin- 
ning, such preparation is necessary. (2) 
After greater practice and facility have been 
attained, one should meditate before each 
catechisation. He should go through the 
doctrines concerning faith and life of which 
he means to treat. He must carefully weigh 
the illustrations and the texts of Scripture, 
which he means to use. He must consider 
whether his catechumens are able to receive 
them profitably ; whether it is necessary to 



Confirmation and Catechisadon. 155 

have more or these will suffice ; whether he 
has not so often employed these that it is ne- 
cessary to chose others. (3) The best pre- 
paration is for the catechist to put himself 
into the -place of the catechumens and to 
consider what each one of them needs, and 
in what manner the need of each of them may 
be answered. Such preparation must neces- 
sarily call up an indescribable multitude of 
thoughts, which will be of service to the flock 
of Christ. And how blessed is such labor ! 
But he who has a conscience will not shirk 
the work. Another duty of a catechist to- 
wards himself is, that he endeavor in every 
way to make this work pleasant to himself. 
For if he go about it unwillingly, he will not 
show the necessary sprightliness in it, and 
no occupation in the world can be more irk- 
some than it will be. Therefore let every 
one pray God not only to assist him in the 
work but also to give him pleasure in it. Let 
him remember the command of Christ, the 
Chief Shepherd of the Flock, Feed my lambs. 



156 The Evangelical Pastor. 

And let him by means of a reasonable meth- 
od in catechisation, win the love and liking 
of his catechumens. ' ' 

183. Give me a suitable prayer for a cate- 
chist ? 

"Jesus, my dear Master, Teach me how 
to teach ; draw me to Thee, that I may bring 
to Thee these whom Thou hast given to me. 
Our children have been baptized at Thy bid- 
ding ; O. now give me grace to teach them 
to keep what Thou hast commanded. Tes- 
tify Thou to their souls ; and awaken their 
hearts to a living faith, that they may em- 
brace Thee and give themselves wholly to 
Thee. Prepare them by the power of Thy 
Holy Spirit and also through the instruction 
and prayer of Thy servant for a worthy re- 
ception of the Holy Supper. Make them 
willing to renew their vows to Thee and more 
and more to renounce the Devil. Defend 
them against the evil one, that these souls, 
redeemed by Thy blood, may not be lost nor 



Confirmation and Catechisation. 157 



go astray. They are Thine, Lord Jesus ; 
therefore keep them in Thy love; stablish, 
strengthen, settle them even in this hour, 
and keep them by Thy power and grace unto 
eternal life." — Ev. Breviary, 509. 



X. 

SEELSORGE. 

186. How may a pastor retain the young peo- 
ple whom he has confirmed? 

i. It is the Lutheran method to catechise 
the young people at regular times in the pre- 
sence of the whole congregation. 

2. Every effort should be made to keep 
them in the Sunday-school, first as scholars, 
and, when any are fit, as teachers. 

3. It will be of use to throw upon them as 
early as possible duties in the congregation. 

4. The pastor should cultivate the unre- 
served confidence of his young people, to 
which a friendly cheerfulness on his part will 
contribute. He should not hesitate to warn 
them against the temptations he may see be- 

158 



Seelsorge. 159 

setting them, or if they fall into sin, he should 
restore them in the spirit of meekness. 

5. He should encourage the formation of 
associations among them for mutual assist- 
ance and for good works — in which associa- 
tions, however, he ought always have author- 
ity and oversight. 

6. He should take a friendly interest in 
their pleasures, directing them to useful 
books, giving them social opportunities, and 
discouraging all doubtful amusements, espe- 
cially those in which young and unmarried 
people only take part, to the exclusion of 
their parents and elders. The parsonage 
may be made a centre of wholesome influ- 
ence. 

187. What suggestive name do the Germans 
give to the peculiar duty of a pastor ? 

Seelsorge and the Seelsorgeramt. 

188. Quote from Herzog a reference to the 
example of our Lord in this regard? 

1 The type of the Pastor (Seelsorger) first 



160 The Evangelical Pastor. 



appears in Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd, 
who had been promised in Is. 40 : 11 ; Jer. 
31 : 10 ; Ez. 37 : 24 ; who made Himself 
known in this His office, John 10 ; who al- 
ways exercised a spiritual care upon those 
whose bodies He healed (Matt. 9 : 35, 36), 
and in the training and preparation of his 
disciples (for instance of Simon Peter) was 
the model of a wise and patient guide of 
souls, going to the roots of natural character, 
and keeping before Him the highest aim." — 
Karl Burger in Herzog, 14. 30. 

i8p. What did our Lord make the basis of 
the pastoral commission ? 

See John 21 : 15-17. 

ipo. Describe the pastoral function. 

" It is such an application of the Word as 
shall be the means pf producing a knowledge 
and following of Christ ; then a leading or 
guiding, which, however, is joined with ser- 
vice, with self-sacrifice. ' ' Beck on St. John 10. 

ipi. It is not enough for a minister to be a 
successful preacher, then ? 



Seelsorge. 161 

The care of souls and necessary visitation 
from house to house are a duty as well. 

Deyling (in Walther) : ' ' An evangelical 
pastor is bound not only to instruct his hear- 
ers in public, but he must instruct them pri- 
vately whenever he has an opportunity, he 
must bear each upon his heart, and accord- 
ing to the disposition of each and the differ- 
ent circumstances apply to every one entrust- 
ed to him what will further his salvation. For 
the teachers of the Word are called pastors, 
shepherds, (Eph. 4 : 11), Therefore they 
must take care not only of the whole flock, 
but also of every sheep in it. If, then, one 
of these has wandered, the shepherd seeks it 
without delay, brings it back to the fold, 
strengthens it and heals it. The minister of 
the Word is stationed by God to be a watch- 
man for the Church, after the pattern of Eze- 
kiel, Isaiah and Jeremiah, Is. 52 : 8 ; Jer. 6 : 
17, cf. Heb. 13 : 17. How could he be said 
to watch if he did not keep an eye on every 
part, on every member of the congregation ? 



1 62 The Evangelical Pastor. 

Further, a minister must give an account of 
the whole congregation entrusted to him. 
He must carefully inquire into the life of 
every one and instruct every one both pub- 
licly and privately. Pastors again are called 
Bishops ', that is Overseers, and are command- 
ed to oversee the flock, as well singly as 
publicly, Acts 20 : 28 ; 1 Pet, 5 : 2. They 
are also called workers together with God. 
As now God is concerned not only for our 
salvation in general, but for the salvation of 
every particular man, so His co-worker, the 
minister of the Word, is bound to the same. 
Cowherds and shepherds know every one of 
their beasts and are interested in each ; why 
should not the shepherd of souls bear on his 
heart the souls bought with the precious 
blood of Christ ? So Paul did not cease to 
admonish every one not only publicly, but 
specially from house to house (Acts 20 : 20, 
31 ; 1 Thess. 2 : 10). Such visitation from 
house to house, and such admonition are 
part of the duty of a minister. John Chrys- 



Seelsorge. 1 6$ 

ostom in his 34th Homily on the Ep. to the 
Hebrews, emphasizes this, saying, * Thou 
must give an account of every one entrusted 
to thee, men, women and children. Think 
in what peril thou art ! It is a thing to be 
wondered at, if one priest be saved F " 

To this Dr. Walther adds the following 
instructive note : i * We have a remarkable 
example of the application of the Word of 
God to particular persons in the address of 
Paul recorded in Acts 24 : 24, 25. Paul's 
hearers were Felix, his unjust judge, and Fe- 
lix' s unchaste wife, Drusilla ; and the topic 
on which he spoke to them was Righteous- 
ness, Temperance and the Judgment to 
come." 

192. With what peculiar difficulty will a 
pastor meet ? 

Many think themselves able to free them- 
selves from all relation to the pastor and the 
Church, and thus to make it an impertinence 
in him to admonish them. But these are 



164 The Evangelical Pastor. 

wandering sheep, whom he must bring back 
to the fold. 

ipj. What sorts of persons will a pastor find 
in his congregation f 

Hartmann, III. xxxi., quotes Musaeus : 
' ' He will find six sorts among his Beichtkin- 
der. In the first will be ordinary sinners, 
who, while they are ^onscious of no gross 
sins, confess themselves guilty of human 
frailties and wish to be at peace with God. 
In the second will be tempted, anxious, trou- 
bled souls, of little faith, who worry them- 
selves about their sins too much. In the 
third, coarse, hard and determined sinners, 
who concern themselves about their sins too 
little. In the fourth, inexperienced and sim- 
ple folk, who do not understand the ground 
of their faith, and do not thoroughly know 
about Christ and His^ redemption, or about 
the Holy Supper and the proper use of it, 
In the fifth, hypocrites in faith. And in the 
sixth, hypocrites in life. The preacher must 



Seelsorge. 165 

have regard as far as possible to these six 
classes, that he may divide to each according 
to the opportunity and need." 

194. Is he to treat all such alike ? 

He must rightly divide the Word of Truth. 
2 Tim. 2 : 15. 

ipj. What especial qualifications does a pas- 
tor need? 

1. What is needed, therefore, is the art of 
bringing the simplest matters of every- day 
life into connection with the highest.' ' Beck, 
p. 128. 

2. He must be so thoroughly grounded in 
God's Word, that he may speak it infallibly. 

3. Penetration ; discernment of spirits, 1 
Cor. 12 : 10. 

4. Presence of mind. James I : 5, 6, 
See Harnack in Zockler, iv. 434. 

ip6. Is the pastor to attempt no more than 
the cultivation of separate members of his flock ? 

1 ' Seelsorge is to be directed to the remo- 
val of hindrances to the Christian daily life of 



1 66 The Evangelical Pastor. 

the whole congregation, and to the creation 
and maintenance of influences wholesome 
thereto.' ' lb. 434. 

zp/. What peculiarities of our own times 
does Harnack enumerate, as requiring a pas- 
tor's attention ? 

The dissolution of national idiosyncrasies. 
(Gen. 11:4.) 

Opposition to all authority* 

Naked egotism. 

Haste to get rich. 

Ever-extending Pauperism. 

198. What means of meeting these does he 
advise ? 

' ' The sermon should be addressed to the 
concrete relations of life, should uncover 
moral sores, and should seize the conscience; 
addressing what Tertullian calls 'the soul 
naturally Christian. ' 

' ' Associations for edification, going be- 
yond the boundaries of the family and the 
nearest circle of friends, and proposing to go 



Seelsorge. 167 

side by side with the ministry or in opposi- 
tion to it, are not to be allowed. But the 
Church itself must meet the want : by enliv- 
ening its service and making it more frequent; 
by an evangelical development of especially 
the second half of the Church Year, in order 
to awaken and cherish a churchly feeling 
among the people ; by introduction and furth- 
erance of family worship, Christian upbring- 
ing of children, and the observance of the 
Lord's day ; and finally by the restoration of 
private Beichte and Absolution, in addition 
to public confession. There also is required 
an organization whereby the congregation, 
under the leadership of the ministry, may 
take part in the bodily and spiritual care of 
children and catechumens, of the poor and 
sick, and of the forsaken and fallen." lb. 
436. 



XL 
HOUSE VISITATION. 

igg. Was there a time when regular house 
visitation was objected to by some in the Luthe- 
ran Church ? 

In some cases on account of the size of the 
parishes it was impossible ; it was then sup- 
plied in a measure by the requirement of 
private confession before the communion ; it 
is now rendered more necessary by the neg- 
lect of this custom ; and it was also misused 
by some, and therefore others were suspi- 
cious of it. 

200. It often is said that a minister cannot 

at the same time be a good preacher and a good 

pastor, because continual visitation leaves no 

time for study. What answer shall be made to 

this ? 

168 



House Visitation. 169 

The pastor must be careful to give a right 
proportion of time to study and meditation. 
He should be methodical in his visitation so 
as to waste no time. His going from house 
to house will lead him deeper into the sense 
of God's Word, by showing him the idiosyn- 
crasies and peculiar need of his people and 
by giving exercise in the application of the 
Word of God to all their trials and questions. 

201. What suggestions may be made ? 

Young and unmarried ministers must be 
circumspect in their behavior among ladies. 

All should avoid the appearance of prefer- 
ring to visit those Houses where they are most 
pleasantly entertained. 

The great aim of a pastor should be to re- 
store such as have erred. 

Those should be attended to carefully who 
neglect the Holy Supper. 

The pastor has an especial duty to the 
aged, and before all to the sick. 



1 70 The Evangelical Pastor. 

202. What excellent advice does Bishop Wil- 
berforce give ? 

" Conduct your pastoral visits on a plan. 
Do not leave them to mere accident ; map 
out your parish, and let every part of it come, 
within a certain time, in regular course under 
your eye. It will still further aid you in this 
if you will keep a regular list of your visits, 
and revise them at fixed intervals ; once a 
week, for instance, or once a month, as you 
find most convenient. Yet whilst you have 
a plan, do not make yourself a slave to it. 
You may by this means distract and weaken 
efforts which gain a great part of their effect 
by concentration. Thus, for instance, it is 
far better thoroughly to follow out one case, 
and then take up another, than to be imper- 
fectly handling two at once. Much, in such 
circumstances, is to be done by reiteration. 
Never, therefore, intermit your efforts in any 
instance, until you have really tried to bring 
it to a full conclusion. If you fail to do so, 
leave it wholly for a while. This seems to 



House Visitation, 17 1 

be acting on our Lord's rule of turning from 
the city which rejects your witness to an- 
other. 

" Again, prepare for your visits. Prepare 
for them by frequently weighing the charac- 
ters you have to deal with, and the objects 
you really propose to yourself, so that you 
may have the case before you in all its bear- 
ings, and then further prepare, by settling 
before each visit what point you will try to 
make good in that visit. Have a definite 
aim. Determine to do something each time: 
to bring home the sense of some sin, to lodge 
in the mind some one truth, to make some 
promise of good felt, to enlighten some dark 
place of the heart. Visiting one's people 
with such definite aim adds a marvellous 
power to our ministerial intercourse with 
them. 

1 ' Again, before your visits prepare your- 
self for them by secret prayer. Bring the 
case of those you are about to visit before 



172 The Evangelical Pastor. 

God. Seek for light, seek for strength, seek 
for faithfulness, seek for love enough to deal 
with them. It is marvellous how often the 
most difficult cases will unravel all their in- 
tricacies when you thus spread them before 
the Lord in prayer. And then in all your 
visiting, set before yourself this great object, 
to bring your people indeed to Christ. Be 
content with nothing short of making them 
feel their sinfulness and utter loss without 
Him, and of so turning to Him with all their 
hearts. Evermore seek to raise Him before 
the eyes of men, to lift up His cross, to bring 
them under His hands for healing. Never 
be content with getting them to welcome 
you, or to adopt your opinions, or to give a 
general assent to the Gospel scheme, or to 
mend merely their outward life, but aim at 
making them the true, loving, trusting fol- 
lowers of Christ, at leading each one for him- 
self, as a separate soul, to seek for pardon, 
reconciliation, life, peace and joy from Him, 



k House Visitation. 173 

and then in return to give up all to Him." — 
Addresses to the candidates for Ordination, 
by the Bishop of Oxford, 4th ed. 1862, pp. 
116, 117. 



XII. 
VISITATION OF THE SICK, &c. 

Haefer, Geschichte der Christlichen Kranken- 
Pflege> 1857 ; Augustine, De visitatione infirmor- 
um; the old KOO.; Moller, Manuale de praepara- 
tione ad mortem, 1593 ; Wudrian, Kreuzschule ; 
Olearius, Anweisung zur Krankens eels org e (publ. 
by Lohe, 1856) ; Gunther, Geistliche Krankencur, 
1764 ; Muller, Erbauliche Auslegung der Leidens- 
geschichte Jesu Christi, nebst Trost u. Rat fur 
Kranke Cedited by Jager, 1858) ; Marperger, Anlei- 
tung zur wahren Seelencur bei Kranken u. Sterben- 
den y 1743; Roos, Kreuzschule; Urlsperger, An- 
leitung fur junge Prediger, wie sie sich bei Kran- 
ken u. Sterbebett zu bezeugen haben (republ. by 
Ledderhose, 1857); Lohe, Handbuch an Kranken 
u. Sterbebetten Csee 2d vol. of his Ev. Geistl.); 
Rauchopfer fur Kranke u. Sterbende, 5th ed., Nordl. 
1880 ; Steiger, Krankenbuch 1841 ; Goering, Christ- 
lie her Kranken u, Sterb ens trost, 1846 ; Fischer? 

174 



Visitation of the Sick, &c. 1 75 

Der Pfarrfc am Krankenbette, 1855 ; Kuendig, 
ErfcJirnngen am Kranken 11. Sterbebette, 5th ed., 
1883 ; Altmiiller, Bethesda u. Caritas, oder Heil- 
kunst u. Christentum i860 ; Dieffenbach, Evangel- 
ische Krankenblatter y 3d ed., 1882; Neubert, Der 
Engeldes Trostes am Krankenbette^ 2d ed., 1872 ; 
Trostbuchlein fur Leidende y Kranke, Sterbende 
Cby the Fratien- Kranken- Verein in Berlin) ; O. 
Funcke, Willst du gesund werden, Beitrage zur 
Christl. Seelenpflege, 1882 ; Ohly, Krankenbuch fur 
die Seelsorger, Wiesbaden, 1882 ; J. C. Hench, Die 
Praxis der pfarramtl. Krankenseelsorge, Leipzig, 
188?.— a very remarkable work, drawing deeply 
from Christian experience ; Langhausz, Die Heil- 
ung des Gichtbriichigen y ein Krankenbuchlein, Er- 
langen, 1883. 

Care of Prisoners. Schroter, Die hundertjahrige 
Geschichte der einzelhaft, 1877 ; Schmied, Nach- 
richten von den Lebensumstdnden merkwurdiger 
Zuchthausgefangenen, 1787 ; Ave-Lallemant, Ge- 
schichte des GaunerthupiS) 1858 ; Wick-Klehmet, 
Macht der Sunde u. Allmacht der Gnade, 1858 ; 
Duhn, Die Gefangniszfrage, 1862 ; Hindberg, 
Berufsthatigkeit des Gefauguiszgeistlichen, 1866 ; 
Hoffmann, Seelsorge im Strafgefdnguisz (in Pal- 



1 76 The Evangelical Pastor. 

mer's Pastoral Theology). Five Years in Penal 
Servitude, ; Life of Elizabeth Fry, Nisbet, 

London, 1870. 

Care of those of diseased mind. Wachter, Ueber 
den Umgang des Geistlichen mit Irren ; Nasse, 
Zeitschriftfurpsychische Aerzte ; DalhofT, Unsere 
Gemuthskranken (from the Danish by Michelsen), 
Leipzig, 1883. Compare the section in Palmer. 
See also, Carpenter, Mental Physiology, Mauds - 
ley, Body and Mind. 

On Sunday Schools. Quandt, Die Christliche 
Sonntags chute, 1867 ; Tiesmeyer, Die Praxis der 
Sonntagschulen, 2d ed., 1877 ; Prochvoord's Zeit- 
schrift, Die Sonntagschule ; Konig, Beitrage zm 
Geschichte der Sonntagschule. 

On Workingmen, etc, Uhlhorn, Die Arbeit hn 
Lichtedes Evangeliums, 1877 ; Malzahn, Die landl. 
Arbeiternoth u. ihre Ueberwindung, 1876 ; Perthes, 
Das Herbergswesen der Handwerksgesellen, 1856 ; 
Meyering, Bin Wort an und uber Junglings u. 
Gesellenvereine, 1858 ; Hesekiel, Die Mission an 
den Jung ling en, 1864 ; Weisz, Ueber Herbergen, in 
the Fliegende Blatter, 1869 ; Jordan, Die inner e 
Mission unter der mannlichen Jugend, 1875 ; Rath- 
mann, Die Herb erg e zur Heimat, 1876. 



Visitation of the Sick, &c. 177 

Houses of Reformation. Wichern, Das rauhe 
//rt/^1833-1883, Hamburg, 1882. 

The Care of Reclaimed Women. Herbst, Die 
Magdalenensache, 1876; Sailer, Die Magdalenen- 
sache in der Geschichte, 1881 ; Herbst, Die Mis- 
sion unter den Gefallenen % 1874 ; Baur and Bastian, 
Die Magdalenensache, 1876 ; Heldring, Sein Leben 
u. seine Arbeit, from the Dutch by Miiller, 1882 ; 
Friemann, Die Magdalenensache \ 1883 ; Dalton, 
Der sociale Aussatz, 1 S84. The Omnipotence of 
Loving Kindness, Carter, 1867. 

Care of the Poor. Villeneuve-Bargemont, Econ- 
omic politique chretienne, 3 parts, Paris, 1834; 
Duchatel and Naville, Das Armenwesen, 1837 ; De 
Gerando, De la bienfaisance publique, four vols., 
German by Busz, 1843 ; Kleinschrod, Der Pauper- 
ism us in England \ 1845 ; Funk, Lehre der heil. 
Schrift ueber Krankenpflege u. Pflegeramt, 1844 ; 
Moll, Die Armuthsnoth, 1845 ; Hahn, Ueber den ge- 
genwartigen Zustand unserer Armenversorgungs- 
austalten, 1847 > Feldner, Grundzitge einer kirch- 
lichen Armenpflegenach Chalmers, 1847; Chalmers, 
On the Care of the Poor, 1843 J Merz, Armuth u % 
Christentum, 1849 ; Schunk, Die Armenpflege vom 
christlichen Standptmkt, 1850; Moreau-Christophe, 



1 78 The Evangelical Pastor. 

Die probleme de la mis ere et de sa solution, 1851 ; 
Schutz, Ueber die Concurrenz der Privaten, Ge- 
meinden u. des Staats bei der Armenversorgung ; 
Furter, Anleitung zu einer verstdndigen u. wirksa- 
men Armenpfiege , 1856; Lohmann, Ueber burger ~ 
liche u. kirchliche Armenpfiege , 1865 ; Huber, Zur 
Reform des Armenwesens, 1867 ; Ratzinger, Ge- 
schichte der kirchlichen Armenpfiege, 1868 ; Em- 
minghaus, Das Armenwesenu die Armengesetzge- 
bung in den europdischen Staaten, 1869 ; Bohmert, 
Armenwesen u. Armengesetzgebung, 1869 ; Lohe, 
Von der Barmherzigkeit, 2d ed. 1877; Rocholl, Sys- 
tem des deutschen Armenpflegerechts, 1873 ; Die 
Nothwendigkeit u. Ausfuhrbarkeit einer Reform der 
Armenpfiege in den Stadten, 1873; Hill, Aus der Lon- 
doner Armenpfiege , 1878 ; Luthardt, Armenpfiege 
u. Unterstutzungswohnsitz ; Rohmheld, Ueber 
kirchliche Armenpfiege, 1881 ; Franz Ehrle (S. G.)> 
Beitrdge zur Geschichte u. Reform der Armen- 
pfiege , 1 88 1 ; Die Pflege unheilbarer Kranken, eine 
Aufgabe der kirchL Armenpfiege, 1883 ; Fliegende 
Blatter ; Hahn in Herzog, and the Wurtemberg 
Blatter fur das Armenwesen. 

On Socialism, etc. Stein, Der Socialismus u. 
Communismus des heutigen Frankreich, 1842; Hun- 
deshagen, Der Communismus u. die ascetische So- 



Visitation of the Sick, £rv. 179 

cialrcform im Laufe der Chris tl. Jahrhunderten 
(tudicn u. Kritiken, 1845) ; Romang, Die Bedeu- 
tung des Communismus aus dem Gesichtspunkt des 
Christentums gewilrdigt, 1847 ; Huber, Die Pro- 
letarier, 1865; Sociale Frag en u. die genossen- 
schaftliche Selbsthillfe, 1865 ; Die sociale Arbeiter- 
frage der Gegenwart, 1871 ; Kuntze, Die sociale 
Frage u. die innere Mission, 1873 ; Gottschalk, 
Der moderne Socialismus, 1874; Martensen, Social- 
isms u. Christe?ithum (Michelsen, 1875) ; J a g er > 
Geschichte der socialen Bewegung, 1875 \ Schus- 
ter, Die Socialdemokratie nach ihrem Wesen u, ihr- 
er Geschichte, 2d ed. 1876; Geffcken, Der Social- 
ismus, 1876 ; Thelemann, Die Socialdemokratie 
nach ihrem Ur sprung u. Wesen, 1877 ; Todt, Der 
radikale deutsche Socialismus u die Christliche 
Gesellschaft, 2d ed. 1878 ; Kohler, Die socialen 
Wirren 11. das Evangelium, 4th ed, 1877 ; Uhlhorn, 
Zur socialen Frage, and Luthardt, Die sociale 
Aufgabe der inner en Mission ; Langhaus, Die Auf- 
gabe der Kirche gegenuber den socialen, sittlichen 
u. religiosen Nothstdnden des Volkslebens, Berne, 
1883. Behrends, Socialism and Christianity, N. Y. 
1886. Rylance, Lectures on Social Questions, N. Y. 
Ely, French and German Socialism in Modern 
Times, N. Y- 1886, 



180 The Evangelical Pastor. 



On Home Worship. Das Christ Hauswesen, 
1847 ; Lehmann, Das ChristL Haus y 1881 ; Die 
Hausandacht, 1881 ; Wiener u. Leonhardi, Am 
heil. Herde, 1880. 

203. Should a pastor wait to be invited to 
visit the sick ? 

He should ask the members of the congre- 
gation to promptly inform him of the sick- 
ness of any one he ought to visit ; he ought 
to make inquiries in order to discover if 
there are any sick ; and he ought to go 
to those who need him without waiting for 
an invitation. The Saxon General Articles 
of 1580 especially enjoin that he shall be as 
ready to visit the poor as the rich, and add, 
' ' The pastors and deacons shall frequently 
visit the sick in the hospitals, give the Holy 
Sacrament to them, and comfort them with 
God's Word," etc. 

Brunswick KO. 1528. Ministers must admonish 
the people not to put off sending for them until 
the last minute, 



Visitation of the Sick, &*c. 181 

204. How should a sick man be treated who 
for a long time has despised the Holy Sacra- 
ment, and now in his last need refuses to send 

for the minister ? 

The pastor should be very happy if he can 
find a way to do good to that man's soul. 

205. Ought a pastor visit the sick who belong 
to another pastorate ? 

He ought not. If sent for by them he 
should inform his brother pastor ; and the 
course to be taken should be agreed on be- 
tween them. 

206. UTiat if unreasonable and unseasonable 
calls upon a pastor' ' s time are made by or for 
the sick ? 

It is better to bear this meekly and make 
use of all opportunities to do good. All 
should see that the pastor is glad to serve 
his people. 

207. Of what use is the visitation of the 
sick ? 

Ludwig Hartmann ( Walther, p. 281) says: 



1 82 The Evangelical Pastor. 

— . _ , 

Since they cannot come to the public wor- 
ship of God, their souls need to be refreshed 
in private, that they may not be without re- 
source at such times as Satan so cunningly 
showers his fiery darts upon them. ,, 

208. Is there any warrant for it in the Word 
of God? 

Christ. Tim. Seidel writes : ' ' That the 
care of the sick was part of the office of 
teachers in the Apostqlic Age, is clear from 
James 5 : 14." 

209. Is it necessary to visit sick children ? 

A pastor should not excuse himself from 
this duty because they are assured of salva- 
tion in Holy Baptism. He should go to 
pray for them, to instruct them, if they are 
old enough to receive instruction ; and to 
comfort and encourage their anxious parents. 

210. What if the disease is a contagious one? 

A pastor dare not flee from it, both be- 
cause he has a duty to perform, and because 
he must set his people an example in cour- 



Visitation of the Sick, &c. 183 

ageously facing death. See Luther's little 
work of the year 1527, Ob ma?i vordem Ster- 
benfliehen moege. Also John 10 : 12. 

211. What precautions ought a pastor take in 
such a case ? 

He should prepare his soul by God's Word 
and prayer ; and he should eat something 
just before going to the sick room. 

212. Give me Dr. Walther 1 s rules for the 
visitation of the sick ? 

1. "The minister may begin with such a 
text as Matt. 10 : 30 (that all the hairs of our 
heads are numbered, etc.), and then remind 
the sick man that his affliction is not without 
God's knowledge, nor can it be contrary to 
His will, and therefore if he will take it right- 
ly it cannot but be for the best, whether he 
recover or die of it. He may then proceed 
to show r why God lets us suffer sickness and 
the like. 

2. ' ' The visitor must then inquire with all 
the tact he may possess into the cause and 



1 84 The Evangelical Pastor. 

nature of the sickness, but especially must he 
seek to discover the condition of the patient's 
soul. Mark the following from Olearius : 
Let him find out (i) whether the sick man 
has obtained a sufficient knowledge of the 
way of salvation ; (2) whether his life has ac- 
corded with that way, or has been spent in 
open and impenitent sin up to the time of his 
sickness and danger; or whether while his 
outward life was not blameworthy, it is un- 
certain whether it was in a true sanctification 
based on faith ; (3) what was his particular 
calling and what his peculiar temptations 
were ; and also what divine providences eith- 
er of grace or wrath he may have experi- 
enced ; (4) how he bears his sickness ; wheth- 
er he is inclined to conversation ; whether 
death seems near, or he may have time for 
preparation ; whether his head is at all times 
clear, and whether his words and gestures 
may not often be merely an outcome of his 
disease ; (5) the natural temperament and 
degree of intellectual power of the sick man 



Visitation of the Sick, &*c. 185 

are also to be regarded ; (6) also, whether he 
is afraid of death. m 

3. ' ' The pastor has to attend to that which 
is most necessary, first, ' For example' (says 
Olearius) ' if the sick man is impatient and 
inconsiderate, the minister ought to try to 
bring him to silence, submissiveness and at- 
tention, for without this all talking and 
preaching will do no good. If it is clear that 
the man does not know what belongs to pen- 
itence, to faith and to holiness, instruct him 
in this. If he has doubts on essential points 
in religion, endeavor to remove them. If 
for any reason he doubts the grace of God in 
Jesus Christ, this must be the prime matter 
of consideration. 

4. ' ' The pastor is not to preach at the sick 
man, but to instruct him in gentle conversa- 
tion, and, if he be very ill, by means of short 
passages of Holy Scripture. He should not 
merely admonish him to prayer, but utter 
such a prayer as the sick man may pray with 
him. He should not be offended if the sick 



1 86 The Evangelical Pastor. 

man is found too weak to bear a lengthy in- 
terview. (Books are published which con- 
tain selections from Holy Scripture suitable 
for the sick room.) 

5. "If a pastor notices that a sick man 
can find no comfort in all he has to offer, it 
may be that some secret weight lies upon the 
man's conscience, and he ought to invite him 
to tell it, and for this purpose he should seek 
to be left alone with him. 

6. "A pastor should avoid words or acts 
which may lead a sick person to despair of 
recovery, but rather should try to inspire 
him with cheerfulness and courage, while he 
uses every opportunity to prepare him either 



to live or to die. For this reason the pastor 
ought not be offended if occasionally the 
physician may think it better for him not to 
see the patient. 

7. "The pastor should not stop his visits 
just as soon as the sick man begins to im- 
prove ; because during his convalescence op- 
portunity may be found to instruct him and 



Visitation of the Sick, &c. 187 

to fix those good resolutions which may have 
been formed when death seemed near. 

8. . " Each of the pastor's prayers in a sick 
room should be based on a clear and com- 
fortable promise of the Word of God.' ' 

Compare Dr. Martin Luther's Way of Visiting 
the Sick. Table Talk. Erl. 61, 415. 

14 When Dr. Luther came to visit a sick man, he 
spoke to him in a very friendly manner, greeted 
him very warmly, and first of all asked what was 
the matter with him, how long he had been sick, 
what doctor he had, and what sort of medicine 
had been given. Then he began to inquire wheth- 
er during this illness he had been patient towards 
God. And after he had discovered how the sick 
man had borne himself while sick, and that he 
wished to bear his affliction patiently, because 
God had sent it upon him out of his fatherly good- 
ness and mercy, and that he owned that by his 
sins he had deserved such visitation, and that he 
was willing to die if it pleased God to take him, — 
then he began to praise this Christian disposition 
as the work of the Holy Ghost. And he praised 
the goodness of God in bringing any one in this 



1 88 The Evangelical Pastor. 

life to the true knowledge of himself, and to faith 
in Jesus Christ our Saviour, and to resignation to 
the will of God. He also admonished him to be 
steadfast in this faith by the help of the Holy 
Ghost, and he promised that he would diligently 
pray for him. If the sick then thanked him for 
visiting them, and said they did not deserve it, 
Dr. Luther used to say, It was his office and duty 
and he deserved no thanks for doing it ; and he 
comforted them, telling them it would be well 
with them, they need not fear, for God was their 
gracious God and Father ; that He had given them 
good proof and assurance of this in His Word and 
Sacraments ; and that He might redeem us poor 
sinners from the devil and Hell He had freely, 
given His Son to die for us, and thus reconciled 
us with God." 

213. It is the custom of our Church to give 
the Sacrament to the sick : Describe such a ser- 
vice. 

The minister should discover what knowl- 
edge of the Word of God the sick man has, 
that he may the better instruct him ; and if 
time permit he should show him from Holy 



Visitation of the Sick, &c. 189 

Scripture that we are all sinners, that our sin 
is forgiven through faith in Christ, and 
wherefore our Lord instituted the Holy Sup- 
per. Then shall he read the Exhortation, 
the Words of Institution and the Lord's 
Prayer. Brandenburg- Nuernberg KO. 1533. 
It is added that the pastor should then ' ' in- 
struct the sick man concerning Baptism, the 
cross and sufferings and admonish him to pa- 
tience." See Lutheran Church Review y 
Philadelphia, October, 1882. The best form 
at hand is that of the Book of Worship, be- 
ginning at the Exhortation, omitting the In- 
vitation and the Nunc Dimittis, but continu- 
ing to the end. The Confession and Abso- 
lution should precede the service. The 
Wuertemberg KO. of 1536 directs the minis- 
ter to ask the sick man ' ' Whether he wishes 
to ask any question or say anything. ' ' Then 
follow the Confession and Absolution. 

In letters of November 25th and December 4th, 
*539 (55 : 252-256), Luther disapproves of the com- 
munion of the sick in private houses ; perhaps be- 



190 The Evangelical Pastor. 

cause of Popish superstition in reservation of and 
carrying about the elements. He says also, " The 
people ought to be taught and admonished from 
the pulpit each to receive the Holy Sacrament at 
least three or four times a year in the Church. If 
they then have the good message of the Word and 
know the Gospel, it matters not how death falls 
upon them, they may fall asleep in the Lord." 

214. Is it necessary that others should receive 
the Sacrament with the sick man, as the Book 
of Common Prayer directs ? 

It is not. 

215. What precautions ought a pastor take 
with reference to the fitness of the sick person 
desiring the Sacrament ? 

His duty in this regard does not essentially 
differ from his duty with regard to all com- 
municants. 

216. Does the pastor owe special duty to oth- 
ers besides the sick ? 

He should visit those who have sustained 
unusual misfortunes ; those who are troubled 
in soul ; those whom he knows to be under 



Visitation of the Sick, &c. 191 

sore temptation ; those who have fallen un- 
der suspicion of crime, especially such as may- 
have already been arrested ; criminals in pris- 
on ; and those who are afflicted with melan- 
choly, etc. Acts 20 : 20, 31 ; Col. 1 : 20 ; 1 
Thess. 2 : 2. 

217. Is the worldly comfort of his people a 
concern of a pastor ? 

The poor, the widow, the orphan, the weak 
and unthrifty and incapable, the needy, the 
aged, and the like, belong to him. Gal. 2 : 
9, 10 ; Acts. 6:1 ss. ; 11 : 30 ; 12 : 25 ; 24 : 
17 ; Rom. 12 : 8, 13 ; James 1 : 27 ; 1 Tim. 
5 : 10 ; 1 Thess. 4:11, 12. 

218. What special duty do you fix here ? 

A pastor should see that his congregation 
provide means for the relief of the needy ; 
and the distribution of it should be through 
the hands of officers of the congregation, 
who should personally meet the misery they 
seek to relieve. 



192 The Evangelical Pastor. 

219. Is it right to leave the relief of such 
want to associations outside of the Church ? 

No answer need be made to this question. 

220. Should a minister encourage beggary ? 
No. His first duty is to the poor of the 

household of faith. When others apply to 
him, he should first satisfy himself that by 
giving he is really assisting them. For this 
purpose it is well to have the assistance of 
women of experience, who will look closely 
into the condition of those asking relief. A 
registry of those assisted should be kept, and 
nothing should be given to those who make 
mendicancy a profession. A pastor in a 
town or city should endeavor to become fa- 
miliar with the methods of the organised 
charities of our largest cities. 



XIII. 

THE DYING AND THE DEAD. 

221. How shall a pastor proceed when called 
to minister to a dying man ? 

1 ' Let him remind him of his sins, but first 
of all (whatever his condition may have been 
hitherto) point him to Christ and hold before 
him such familiar texts and verses of hymns 
and brief prayers as invite to Christ as the 
only and certain Saviour from sin, death, the 
devil and hell ; let him ask him whether he 
recognizes that he is a poor lost sinner, and 
whether he puts all his confidence in Christ 
and wishes to die in Him ; and if he says he 
does, let the pastor confirm him in this faith. 
If he lose consciousness, the pastor may en- 
gage in prayer with those who are present. 

193 



194 The Evangelical Pastor. 

When death ensues, let him bless the dead 
with the laying on of hands with such words 
as these : O God the Father, I commend to 
Thee that which Thou didst make. O God 
the Son, to Thee that which Thou hast re- 
deemed. O God the Holy Spirit, to Thee 
that which Thou hast sanctified. And then 
let the Lord's Prayer be said." 

222. Repeat to me the Questions and An- 
swers for a Deathbed given to us by Anselm of 
Canterbury, *uop. 

i ' Brother, art thou glad thou art about to 
die in faith ? 

Yes. 

' ' Dost thou confess that thou hast not lived 
as well as thou oughtest to have lived ? 

Yes. 

' ' Wouldst thou try to do better if time 
were given thee ? 

Yes. 

"Dost thou believe that the Lord Jesus 
Christ died for thee ? 

Yes. 



The Dying and the Dead. 195 

1 ' Dost thou believe that thou canst be 
blessed through His death ? 

Yes. 

' ' And art thou thankful to Him for this ? 

Yes. 

1 ' Then give thou thanks as long as thy 
soul is in thee, and put all thy confidence in 
this death. Confide thyself altogether to 
this death, with this death cover thyself com- 
pletely. And if the Lord will condemn thee, 
say, Lord, I cast the death of our Lord Je- 
sus Christ between me and Thy judgment ; 
in no other way do I contend with Thee. If 
He say that thou hast deserved condemna- 
tion, say, I cast the death of our Lord Jesus 
Christ between me and the evil I have de- 
served ; the merit of His precious passion I 
bring instead of what I ought to have de- 
served but, alas, deserve not. Let him furth- 
er say, The death of our Lord Jesus Christ I 
lay between myself and Thy wrath. Finally, 
let him thrice say, Lord, into Thy hands I 
commend my spirit. And those of his con- 



ig6 The Evangelical Pastor. 

vent who are present, may respond, Lord, in- 
to Thy hands we commend his spirit. And 
so he will die in peace, and shall never see 
death.' * 

223. Is the pastor to have anything to do with 
the dying man's worldly affairs ? 

If time allow, it will tranquillize the sick 
man's mind to set his affairs in order ; and 
the pastor may admonish him to make a 
will. 

224. Should a pastor go> if called for by a 
man condemned to death ? 

He should be glad to go. 

225. Does a pastor owe a duty to the dead ? 
If any of his flock die, he must see that 

they receive Christian burial. 

226. Is any difference to be made between the 
rich and the poor. 

rle is to be particularly careful that the 
poor be not neglected. 

227. What ceremonies are to be observed in 
Christian Burial? 



The Dying and the Dead. 197 

Those which are prescribed in the Order 
of Burial Service in use. 

228. What is the object of the Burial Ser- 
vice ? 

' ' That men may be reminded of their mor- 
tality and of the Last Judgment, and also of 
the joyful resurrection of the dead and the 
life of the world to come." Sax. Gen* Artt., 
1557. 

229. Are unbaptized persons and persons ex- 
communicated entitled to Christian Burial ? 

They are not entitled to it. 

Kursdchs KO. ijSo. Unbaptized children are to 
be buried as the baptized are, with no doubt that 
they are saved. 

230. What is to be done in the case of sui- 
cides ? 

The pastor is to lend a willing ear to every 
proof that the suicide was not responsible at 
the time of the deed. 

231. Is it necessary to bury in consecrated 
ground? 



198 The Evangelical Pastor. 

It is not ; but it is well that every congre- 
gation should possess its own consecrated 
churchyard ; and in places where it is neces- 
sary to bury at a distance from the church, 
as in large cities, it will be of great use for a 
congregation to own in the general cemetery 
a large lot of its own* 






XIV. 



DISCIPLINE. 



Puchta, Recht der Kirche, 1840 ; Sack, Observa- 
tiones ad discipli?iam ecclesiasticam recte judican- 
dam, 1 84 1; Referataufdem Kir clientage zu Lubeck, 
1856; Stahl, Vortrag ueber Kirchenzucht, 1845 ; 
Scheele, Die Kirchenzucht, 1852 ; Fabri, Kirchen- 
zucht im Sinne u. Geiste des Evangeliums, 1854; 
Otto, Versuch einer Verstczndigung ueber Kirchen- 
zucht, 1854; Kliefoth, Die Beichte u. Absolution, 
1855 ; Hofling. Kirch en 'i 'erj 'as sting ; Frlihbusz, Ue- 
ber Wiederbelebung der Kirchenzucht, Breslau, 
1859 ; Wolbling, Referat in den Verhandlungen des 
achten Kirchentags ; Vilmar, Von der Christlichen 
Kirchenzucht, 1872 ; Kirche?izucht 11. Lehrzitcht } 
1877; Meyer, Die Lehre des N. T. von der Kirch en- 
zucht ; also the Swedish theologian Billing, Om 
Luther sk Kyrkotukt y 1880. 

199 



200 The Evangelical Pastor. 

232. Has a pastor a right to perform pastor- 
al acts in the congregation of another ? 

Not without the other's consent. 

233. Does this rule extend to the congrega- 
tions of another communion, whose teachings he 
regards as erroneous ? 

It does. 

234. Is he, then, in no case to respond to the 
advances of a member of another congregation ? 

Persons have a perfect right to come into 
his congregation from another. They ought 
to bring with them adequate proof of their 
full membership and good standing, and be 
regularly dismissed by the authorities of the 
congregation to which they belong. A pas- 
tor should also give instruction in the true 
faith to those who, reared in another faith, 
have learned that it is false and come to him 
for instruction. He should prove himself a 
kind pastor to those who are far from the 
congregations to which they belong, but he 
should require of them right proof that they 



Discipline. 201 



are "members in good standing." He 
should be very careful not to admit to the 
communion of his church those who are un- 
der righteous sentence of suspension or ex- 
communication in another. But this does 
not forbid him to receive such as are suffer- 
ing under unrighteous tyranny in the congre- 
gations to which they belong, and can bring 
clear proof of the correctness of their faith 
and the unblameableness of their life. 

2jj . Has one congregation the right to re- 
move the sentence of suspension, etc., affixed by 
another? 

No : this belongs to the congregation 
which affixed the sentence. 

2j6. Does it belong to the pastor alone to re- 
ceive members into the congregation ? 

He may not receive, any more than he 
may exclude, without the consent of the con- 
gregation. 

2 37- Who may be received into the congrega- 
tion ? 



202 The Evangelical Pastor. 

A baptized person (Eph. 5 : 25, 26 ; 1 Cor. 
12 : 13) who confesses his belief that the 
Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testa- 
ments are the Word of God, and that the 
doctrine contained in the confessions of the 
Lutheran Church (viz., in the Augsburg Con- 
fession and the Small Catechism, which, es- 
pecially the latter, he ought to be well ac- 
quainted with) is the true Christian doctrine 
(Gal. 2 : 4, 5 ; Eph. 4 : 3-6 ; 2 Cor. 6 : 14- 
18 ; 2 John 10, 11). He must wish to be a 
member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church 
(Matt. 10 : 32, 33 ; 2 Tim. 1 : 8). He must 
lead a life without offense (1 Cor. 5 : 9-13 ; 
Matt. 7:6); and he must not be under dis- 
cipline in another congregation. 

238. Ought the pastor be satisfied with the 
representations of a person who seeks member- 
ship in his congregation ? 

The application ought to be laid before the 
church council also, who should inquire into 
the outward circumstances of the person and 
the manner of his daily life. 



Discipline. 203 



239. What if this person bring a satisfactory 
dismissal and reco?nmendation from another Lu- 
theran congregation ? 

He should be received. 

240. What if he bring such a letter from a 
congregation of another name and faith f 

The pastor should give him suitable in- 
struction in the true faith and be sure he re- 
ceives it. 

241. Ought Roman Catholics who wish to 
become members of a Lutheran congregation be 
required to make a formal public renunciation 
of the errors of the Roman Church ? 

Without doubt, such a renunciation would 
make a great impression on all who heard it; 
but it should not be required. 

242. Has the pastor anything to do with 
Church Discipline ? 

It is his duty to see that so far as possible 
a Christian discipline be introduced and ex- 
ercised in his congregation. 



204 The Evangelical Pastor. 

243. You say "so far as possible" : Is not 
such discipline essential? 

It is salutary, but not essential. Disci- 
pline, however correct in principle, is not to 
be enforced to the ruin of the church. 
"Some," says St. Augustine, "we bear 
with whom we cannot exclude or punish ; we 
cannot for the chaff's sake give up the Lord's 
wheat, nor forsake the flock of Christ because 
of the goats who will be separated at the last 
day." {Adv. Cres, III. 4. W.) And Lu- 
ther wrote in reference to a complete ' ' Dis- 
cipline ' ' prepared for the church in Hesse in 
I 533 by the Synod of Homburg, " It has 
given me great joy to see your zeal for Christ 
and for Christian discipline, but in this time, 
which is so restless and so little prepared for 
it, I would not venture to advise so sudden 
an innovation. We will have to let the peas- 
ants drink for a while It will arrange 

itself ; for we have no right to make laws. 
So I would advise that you begin little by 



Discipline. 205 



little, as we do here, first to withhold the 
Communion from those who are known to 
deserve excommunication (for this, which is 
called the less, is the true excommunication); 
and afterwards not to allow them to act as 
sponsors in Baptism. ,, 

244. How, then, should a wise pastor pro- 
ceed in this matter ? 

"To at once introduce a thorough disci- 
pline into a new and uninstructed congrega- 
tion, " says Dr. Walther, "Would not accord 
with the spirit of our Church. Here the 
preacher must be guided by the maxim, Sa- 
lus popitli suprema lex. To wish to compel 
a congregation to the practice of a right 
church discipline before giving them thor- 
ough instruction concerning it, would be to 
wish to reap before the seed is sown. And 
would it not be great foolishness rather to 
imperil a congregation, rather to put it in 
danger of losing the Gospel, than to neglect 
that which while it is not essential pertains 



206 The Evangelical Pastor. 

only to its well being ?" This Dr. Walther 
grounds on the moral canon, Prcecepta nega- 
tiva semper et ad semper ; affirmativa semper 
sed non ad semper obligant. 

245. Is the Lutheran Church, then, indiffer* 
ent to right discipline ? 

Its greatest teachers with one voice desire 
it. See Walther, p. 38. 

See also Matt. 18:18; John 20 : 23 ; 1 
Cor. 5 : 3-5 ; 2 Thess. 3 : 14 ; 1 Tim. 1 : 20 ; 
Titus 3 : 10. 

246. Are we bound to neglect that which the 
fathers during the Reformation found it impos- 
sible to introduce ? 

On the other hand, it is our duty to intro- 
duce a pure discipline agreeable to the pure 
doctrine. 

247. What passages of the Confession would 
you refer to ? 

Augs. Conf. XXVIII. The Apology XI. 
(XXVIIL). 
Articles of Schmalkald, III. 9. 






Discipline, 207 

248. Describe the right method of Christian 
Discipline ? 

It is for every member of the church, for 
the pastor and for the congregation, to ob- 
serve the rule set by our Saviour, Matt. 18 : 
15-17. 

249. How does Luther describe the exercise 
of such discipline by a me7nber of the Church ? 

"Thou hast a neighbour, whose life and 
walk are well known to thee, but thy pastor 
knows it not or does not know it so well, for 
how can he know about everybody's life? 
Well, if thou see that thy neighbour is be- 
coming rich by unrighteous dealing or that 
he is living unchastely, or that he is negli- 
gent in the management of his family, thou 
oughtest as a Christian admonish him and 
warn him to think of his salvation and to 
avoid offense. And O, what a good work 
thou hast done if thou winnest him ! But 
who ever does this ? For, first of all, the 
truth is a hateful thing ; if one tells the truth 



208 The Evangelical Pastor. 

he is hated for it ; and so thou wouldst rath- 
er keep thy neighbour's friendship and fa- 
vour, especially if he is rich and powerful, 
than offend him and make an enemy of him. 
And so, if a second and a third and a fourth 
neighbour are guilty of the same neglect, thy 
neighbour does not at all receive" the admo- 
nition which might have brought him back 
to the right way, if thou hadst but done what 
was thy duty to do." (On Joel 3 : 17.) 

230. What say the Confessions on this point? 

See Large Catechism, on Eighth Com- 
mandment. M. p. 437. " The right way is 
to observe the order set by Christ, Matt. 18 : 
15, If thy brother shall trespass against thee, 
go and tell him his fault between thee and 
him alone. There hast thou a precious and 
beautiful rule for the management of the 
tongue, a rule worth noting because of the 
wretched misuse of the tongue. And accor- 
dingly take care that thou do not talk about 
thy neighbor and backbite him, but rather 



Discipline, 209 

admonish him in secret for his benefit. And 
so if some one bring to thine ears that this 
one or that one has done thus or so, teach 
him to go himself and charge him to his face 
there where he saw it done ; or if he be not 
willing to do this, let him hold his tongue." 

251. Should a pastor listen to tale bearers ? 

1 ' To the pastor in his official capacity be- 
long only such sins as he himself sees, or 
those which fall under < the third grade of 
brotherly rebuke.' " (W.) 

232. Ought a pastor make any allusion in his 
sermons to such stories as he may have heard? 

It is a shame to do so. 

2 53- Ought he resent criticisms upon him- 
self? 

" When once you are ministers, give heed 
to these simple laws. Pay attention to what 
comes before you in the shape of dissatisfac- 
tion. If the dissatisfaction is well founded, 
take the matter in hand without egotism and 
without partiality, without defense of sup- 



210 The Evangelical Pastor. 

posed dignity, either your own or others. 
Thus will you gain the esteem which is in- 
dispensable to you. Men's consciences must 
be satisfied with you ; about the other kind 
of peace you do not need to trouble your- 
selves, only it must be aboveboard — no deep- 
laid plan for bringing people round to suit 
your views. Otherwise when it is found out, 
hopeless discord will arise." Beck, p. 304 
ss. 

254. Can the pastor suspend or excommuni- 
cate any one ? 

" In no case has he the power to excom- 
municate any one without regular process 
and the knowledge of the congregation. 
Here the well-known maxim holds, Quicquid 
omnes tangit, maxime in re salutari, ab omni- 
bus debet curari. It is contrary to reason 
and justice that one person should decide in 
what relation a member should stand to the 
whole and the whole to a member, especially 
when the question has reference to brother- 






Discipline. 211 



hood in the faith. Therefore in God's Word 
the whole congregation and not the preacher 
alone is rebuked for neglect of excommuni- 
cation, and to it is said 1 Cor. 5 : 1, 2, 13." 
See Schmalkald Articles, De pote state etjur- 
isdictione Episc. M. p. 343. Also, Luther, 
Schrift von den Schluesseln, 1530. 

23 j. Are sins which are notorious first to be 
rebuked privately ? 

This is not necessary, because in this case 
it is the whole congregation which is ag- 
grieved. Yet here also love is the highest 
law ; and private admonition should be pre- 
ferred to open process. 

256. Give me Z. Hartmann's eighteen rules 
concerning brotherly correction ? 

1. "It must be so done as to further the 
glory of God and the salvation of one's neigh- 
bor ; not in such a manner as to make our 
neighbor the object of scorn, but that it may 
be evident that it does not proceed from ma- 
lice, hatred or vainglory. 2. Every rebuke 



212 The Evangelical Pastor. 

must be based on certain knowledge of an 
actual transgression. 3. He who rebukes 
must always keep in mind our common frail- 
ty, and so at the same time rebuke himself. 
4. He who reproaches another must be care- 
ful not to be stained* with the same or a like 
sin. 5. Secret sins, or those known to you 
alone, or to but few, are not to be openly re- 
buked, but privately between you and the 
transgressor alone. 6. Therefore whoever 
bring the secret sins of their brethren before 
the congregation without first observing the 
steps which Christ prescribed for such cases, 
shall not be heard but shall be rebuked and 
recalled to the laws of love. 7. Even open 
sins known to all are not in the first instance 
to be punished openly. 8. The reproach 
shall not be too cold and too mild, nor too 
hard and stern, but shall be tempered and 
weighed that our brother may by it be led 
through conviction of his sins and reflection 
on the wrath of God with a contrite heart to 
true repentance. 9. The mean is to be found, 



Discipline. 213 



so that the gentleness of the spirit may min- 
gle with the bitterness of the rebuke. 10. 
An admonition will be fruitful, if he who re- 
bukes keep in mind the disposition and con- 
dition of the offender. 1 1 . The rebuke ought 
to vary with the nature of the sin. 12. Ref- 
erence must be had to time and place. (Prov. 
15 : 11 ; Sir. 22 : 6 ; 1 Sam. 25 : 36, 37.) 13. 
If the crime of which our neighbor is guilty 
is of such a nature as to injure the Church or 
the State, or if there be danger in delay that 
he who knows and does not discover it may 
be considered an accomplice, then we should 
not wait to admonish privately, but quite 
neglecting this duty or obeying it only so far 
as befits the case, we should make the crime 
known at the proper place. 14. If a purposed 
crime is greater and threatens more than the 
good name of him who intends it, then it is 
to be discovered at once, especially to those 
who have authority and power to prevent it. 
Acts 23 : 13, 14. 15. If your neighbor re- 
pents of his error or crime, or if he amends 



214 The Evangelical Pastor. 

without any rebuke, or if others for whom 
we ought to have more regard will suffer 
with him, he is either not to be rebuked at 
all or very mildly. 16. If it is quite evident 
that all rebuke is vain, that it will be preached 
to deaf ears, then admonition and rebuke 
may be spared. 17. The witnesses in the 
second admonition should be such as are 
likely to win the brother, and at least should 
not be odious to him ; for if they are quarrel- 
some or odious to him, or such as cannot 
keep quiet, and whom he cannot endure, 
there will be no good result, but out of shame 
and hatred he will heap sin upon vice and 
harden himself. Therefore relatives or friends 
whom he trusts should be chosen, before 
whom the offender will not be ashamed to 
confess his sin, and who in the right way by 
their authority can move him to confession 
and amendment. 18. All the grades of ad- 
monition are to be repeated several times, 
and we should labor with a penitent until he 
amends his life or until through contempt of 



Discipline, 215 



all admonition he evinces his obdurate stiff- 
neckedness. For in Matt. 18 Christ shows 
the order and grades of rebuke, but not how 
often they shall be used. That each is often 
to be repeated will appear from the twenty- 
seccnd verse, where Christ teaches that our 
brother is to be forgiven till seventy times 
seven. 

257. Should those who after they have been 
admonished by the congregation repent of even a 
notorious sin, be excommunicated ? 

They should be solemnly reconciled to the 
congregation, and, having confessed, should 
receive absolution. 

258. From whom should public penitence be 
required ? 

From such only as having been guilty of 
monstrous sins have given great offense. 

239. Would it be right to suspend persons 
7U ho prof ess repentance until the reality of their 
repentance be evident ? 

This should be done only with those who 



216 The Evangelical Pastor. 



have repeatedly fallen into the same sin, and 
have as often professed repentance. 

260. Is such public penitence to be regarded 
as a punishment laid o?i the offender? 

No. 

261. Should a person be disciplined for an 
offense which he committed lo?ig ago, and in an • 
other congregation, but which may only recently 
nave become known ? 

No. 

262. Who are proper subjects of Ch'istia?i 
discipline ? 

1. Living and responsible persons ; 

2. Such as wish to be considered as broth- 
er or sister in the congregation ; 1 Cor. 5:11; 

3. Communicants ; 

4. Only such as have committed a public 
and offensive sin against God's command- 
ment (1 Cor. 5 : 11) or maintain a fundamen- 
tal error after having been convinced of its 
falsity (Tit. 3 : 10, 11 ; Rom. 16 : 17 ; 2 John 

9-1 1); 



Discipline. 217 



5. Such as in spite of admonition and cor- 
rection have hardened themselves in their sin 
or error and publicly have become irremedi- 
ably unchristian, (Matt. 18 : 17 ; Tit. 3 : 10, 
11) ; and finally 

6. Such as the congregation or its proper 
representatives unanimously declare deserv- 
ing of excommunication. 

26 j. Cannot an excommunication be enforced 
by a majority of a congregation ? 

The decision should be unanimous. If a 
number of the members protest against the 
decision of the majority, the Word of God 
should be appealed to. If the minority can- 
not be convinced that the process, etc., ac- 
cords with the Word of God, then it should 
fail, unless the case is such that the minority 
are also to be considered partakers of the sin 
of the accused and therefore deserving the 
same condemnation. 

264. Suppose, however, that the pastor is con- 
vinced that the offense of the accused is a great 



218 The Evangelical Pastor. 

sin, but the congregation does not agreed with 
him ? 

If he cannot demonstrate his position to 
their conscience from the Word of God, no 
discipline should be enforced. 

265. What practical advice does this suggest? 
That a pastor ought to be very slow to 

bring charges against a member of the con- 
gregation, or to begin a course of action 
which will lead to his accusation and trial. 

266. What shall be done if the accused per- 
son disregards the summons, and will not appear 
to stand trial or to receive sentence ? 

By such refusal he excommunicates himself 
and nothing more can be done ; but careful 
inquiry ought to be made with reference to 
his reasons and great leniency should be ex- 
ercised in judging them, before the congre- 
gation resolves no longer to consider him a 
brother. 

267. Is it right to decide so important a mat- 
ter as the trial of a brother, in haste ? 



Discipline, 219 

Ample notice must be given of the time 
and purpose of the meeting, and of the 
charges against him, not only to the accused 
but to all the members of the congregation. 
There should be no haste. And whatever 
the result of the inquiry, the final decision 
should not be fixed until it has been con- 
firmed by a subsequent meeting. 

268. What is the effect of excommunication ? 
It excludes from every Christian assembly, 

except during the preaching of the Word of 
God, and forbids the excommunicate person 
to act as sponsor in Holy Baptism. 

269. Is it right to excommunicate for some of- 
fence against congregational rules, as, for in- 
stance, for failure to pay an assessment for 
church expenses, or the like ? 

No : so grave, so terrible a punishment 
should be imposed only in such cases as have 
been indicated. (See Q. 262.) 

2jo. How should a pastor treat a person who 
has been excommunicated, by the congregation ? 



220 The Evangelical Pastor. 

He should show him all possible kindness ; 
often visit him, and as a brother urge him to 
repentance. 

2JI. Should a record of the trial be preserved? 

A most exact and complete record of all 
concerning it should be kept in the church. 

2 J 2. If an excommunicate person desires to 
be restored to the church, what then ? 

He having been received by the congrega- 
tion, the pastor should announce his recon- 
ciliation as publicly as he had declared his 
excommunication. 



XV. 

SUNDAY SCHOOLS, COLLECTIONS, 
&c. 

2 73- What is the pastor's relation to the Sun- 
day-school? 

It is the school of the church. He ought 
to do his utmost to secure such teachers for 
it as will train the children properly ; and 
having secured them, he should endeavor to 
cherish in them the same feeling of responsi- 
bility for the children which he himself feels. 
He should aid the teachers in every way. 
He should try to make the instruction of the 
school pure and thorough and so to arrange 
it that it may prepare the children for his own 
instruction in the Catechetical Classes. To 
this end he should study to preserve the most 

221 



222 The Evangelical Pastor. 

confidential relations with the superintendent 
of the Sunday-school. 

2 J 4. Ought not the pastor be Superintendent ? 

It is far better to have in a congregation 
one or more fitted for this important office. 
In the Sunday-school he ought to be pastor 
of superintendent and scholars, and the su- 
perintendent ought to be a worker together 
with him. 

275. Is not the Sunday-school the " Chil- 
dren's Church " / 

It is not and cannot be. The pastor should 
discourage any attempt to put it into the 
place of the Church Service. 

2j6. What are the relative spheres of the 
Sunday-school and the Catechetical Class? 

It is evident that neither can give all that 
the children need ; and therefore they ought 
to work in harmony. 

^77. What is a pastor' s duty towards other 
pastors ? 

To keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond 



Sunday Schools, Collections, &c. 223 

of peace ; not to neglect his duty in pastoral 
conferences or in other relations with them, 
and to do them brotherly service at all times. 

278. What is his duty in the Synod ? 

To be careful in attendance at the Synod, 
to do his part of the business, to discharge 
thoroughly every office it commits to him, 
and to try to respond to all its demands on 
him and his congregation, unless they mani- 
festly are in conflict with the Word of God. 
He ought to try to make his people feel that 
they share the responsibility of the Synod, 
and to this end he should see to it that they 
always send a representative to the Synod 
and are informed of all of Synod's acts. 

Saxon Gen. Art. 1537. " When he is summoned 
by his superintendent to the Synod he shall obe- 
diently appear with a report, and the cost of his 
journey he shall require of the church-fathers, who 
shall in virtue of this our command pay it in pro- 
per manner out of God's Treasury." 



224 The Evangelical Pastor. 

2J9. This starts a question in regard to the 
collection of money : What danger must the pas- 
tor seek to avoid ? 

He must seek to avoid any concession to 
the notion that money-getting or money-giv- 
ing is the one object and measure of Chris- 
tian activity. 

280. Ought a pastor aid in the collection of 
his own salary ? 

A congregation ought to be ashamed to 
allow him to do this. 

281. What is the true principle of Christian 

giving ? 

It is set forth in Matt. 25 : 14-30, 31-46 ; 
Luke 18 : 18-23, and in 2 Cor. 8. The Lord 
really does not need our contributions. It 
is of His goodness that He allows us to be 
workers together with him. The great end 
of Christian beneficence is the cultivation oi 
a Christ-like disposition, and not the collec- 
tion of a vast amount of money. 



Sunday Schools, Collections, &c. 225 



282. What, then, shall be said of worldly 
methods of raising money for the Church ? 

They are an insult to God ; and it is not 
to be wondered at that they undo the effect 
of His Word. 

28 j. How, then, shall a pastor go about the 
collection of money for the use of the Church, in 
the maintenance of the Gospel and in works of 
charity, a7id especially for the use of the Synod? 

First, he must endeavor at all times to cul- 
tivate in his people a Christian spirit (Matt. 
10 '• 38, 39), and he must give to his people 
complete information concerning the opera- 
tions in which their help is desired, or the 
want which he desires to relieve. 

284. But can you not suggest a method which 
conforms to this ideal ? 

A method cannot be prescribed, to be rig- 
orously applied under all circumstances. 
The Scriptural rule is, Upon the first day of 
the week let every one of you lay by him in 
store, as God hath prospered him. 1 Cor. 



226 The Evangelical Pastor. 



16:2. Every man as he purposeth in his 
hearty so let him give ; ?iot grudgingly, or of 
necessity : for God loveth a cheerful giver. 
2 Cor. 9:7. In some regions, however, 
where money is plenty at one season of every 
year, and at others very scarce, even this 
rule may not always be practicable. In some 
congregations it has been found fruitful for 
the pastor at the proper time to address a 
private circular to each member of the con- 
gregation/ and to receive from him his con- 
tribution. In other congregations, the mem- 
bers of the Church every quarter signify the 
amounts they are able to give for the various 
objects proposed to them, an account is 
kept with them, and their subscriptions are 
regularly collected by persons appointed for 
the purpose. Again, in some congregations 
the people are exhorted to agree with God 
upon a certain sum to be given every Sun- 
day, and to lay it on the plate as an offering 
to Him, no other person being supposed to 



is 



Sunday Schools, Collections, &c. 227 

know or inquire how much each gives. The 
last plan is to be commended as strictly in 
accordance with the Scriptural rule, and like- 
ly to keep the conscience awakened to the 
fact that in these offerings we are giving to 
God. And God knows how much each has, 
and how he uses it. 

It may be interesting to note the following from 
the Kursachs KO. 1580 : 

1. Every Sunday when the congregations are 
assembled in the churches, the alms of every place 
shall be collected in the bags ; and the hearers 
shall be admonished by the pastors and ministers 
not to appear before the Lord with empty hands, 
without a gift for God. 

2. At all weddings a basin shall be placed in the 
church, or boxes on the tables at the place where 
the wedding is celebrated, and all the guests, who 
otherwise spend much money foolishly, shall be 
admonished to give a kindly alms for the poor. 

3. The same thing shall be done at a Baptism 
in the church, or where there is an entertainment 
at a Baptism. 






228 The Evangelical Pastor. 

4. At the signing of a contract of sale or ex 
change or the like, both buyer and seller should 
be admonished by boxes set for the purpose, to 
put something into God's treasury for the mainte 
nance of the poor. 

5. Likewise at the division of an inheritance the 
boxes always should be seen, and the heirs should 
be asked to give the Lord a part of the inheritance 
for the poor. 

6. The income from the sale of sittings in the 
church shall, besides its employment for repair 
and building purposes, be spent also for the poor. 

7. The pastors and ministers are directed gent- 
ly and with tact to admonish the sick, especially 
those who are rich and well-to-do, to devote some- 
what of their property to the maintenance of the 
poor. 

8. Whenever there is a funeral sermon, a basin 
shall be placed near where the funeral passes, and 
all shall be urged by the pastor to put into it a 
gift for the poor. 

9. The same shall be done when the people go 
to the Holy Sacrament. In this way it may be 
possible in every place to collect a fund in a short 



Sunday Schools, Collections, &>c. 229 

time, by means of which the deserving poor and 
sick may be succoured, and the dangerous vice 
of begging may be done away. 



XVI. 

IN THE COMMUNITY AND AT 
HOME. 

283. Has a pastor the right to omit any of 
the regular services of the Church ? 

Not without the consent of the congrega- 
tion. Nor may he neglect any call to a Bu- 
rial or Baptism or the like, for his own rea- 
sons. If there be reason to go away from 
his congregation for even a short time, he 
should ask the permission of the congrega* 
tion (or its representatives), and he should 
be careful neither to ask nor to use this per- 
mission very often* 

286. Is it right for a pastor to ask other 
Ministers to preach in his stead \ or to " ex- 
change pulpits " With him ? 
230 






In the Community and at Home, 231 

It is not wrong to admit and to ask to his 
pulpit such as he knows will preach the true 
doctrine of the Word of God ; but in refer- 
ence to this matter the following should be 
observed : 

1. A faithful pastor will not do this often, 
but will feel bound to use every opportunity 
to discharge his own duty. Rom. 12:7. 

2. He will not "exchange pulpits' ' and 
ask to his pulpit, as a necessary act of courte- 
sy. He will have in view fidelity to God and 
to his people. 

3. Therefore he will avoid asking those to 
preach for him whom he knows to be unac- 
ceptable to his congregation. 

Saxon Gen. Artt. 1357. " Since sometimes stu- 
dents go to the villages, and sometimes even a 
pastor or a deacon or some other minister comes 
from another place, and wishes to preach there in 
the church, the pastor of that church shall in no 
wise let such an one go into the pulpit and preach 
unless he bring from his pastor or a deacon a writ- 
ten certificate entitling him thus to preach ; and he 



232 The Evangelical Pastor. 

must first submit the concept of his sermon to the 
pastor or to one of the deacons, or the superin- 
tendent.' ' 

287. What is a pastor to do if invited to 
publicly participate in a service in which other 
ministers take part> and to which he is asked 
as a " representative ■ ' of his Church ? 

In regard to this conjuncture, three things 
must be borne in mind : 

1. Neither he nor any one else has a right 
to appear as the representative of the congre- 
gation or the church, unless the congregation 
or the church instruct him to do so. 

2. A pastor must at all times be governed 
by the consideration that he is a steward of 
the mysteries of God. 1 Cor. 4:1. 

3. He dare never appear to compromise 
the Creed of the Church, which is the Truth 
of Christ. 

288. What is his duty towards the Evan- 
gelistic meetings ', now so common y in which a 
whole community often unites ? 



In the Community and at Home. 233 

His duty is not different from his ordinary 
duty towards the worship and teachings of 
the congregations of another faith ; for with- 
out exception the meetings spoken of are 
alien to the spirit of our Church, especially 
to a true use of the Word and the Sacra- 
ments. It is evident, however, that he is 
under no obligation to oppose such efforts, 
any more than to attack the ordinary servi- 
ces of Christians of another faith. Rather, 
he should be watchful to detect and make use 
of the opportunities to do good which may 
result from the general interest in religious 
topics. 

289. In what words does Dr. Walther sum 
up a pastor" s duty in reference to himself? 

"According to God's Word a good pastor 
must give heed not only to the flock entrust- 
ed to him and to the doctrine, but also to 
himself (Acts 20 : 28 ; 1 Tim. 4 : 16) ; he 
must not only be blameless in all his public 
and private life (1 Tim. 3:2; Titus 1 : 7), 



234 The Evangelical Pastor. 

but must also be a pattern to the flock (i Pet. 
5 : 1-4) ; he must give offense to no one, that 
his office be not blamed (2 Cor. 6 : 3), and 
he must adorn the doctrine (Titus 2 : 10) ; 
and he must give diligence not only that the 
virtues of a good minister of God, as they are 
enumerated in His Word (1 Tim. 3 : 1-10 ; 
Titus 1 : 6-9 ; 2 : 7, 8), shine forth from his 
life, but also that his household in all its 
members, wife, children and dependents, ex- 
hibit the pattern of a truly Christian family 
(1 Tim. 3 : 4, 5 ; 1 Sam. 2 ; Ps. 101 : 6, 7). 
Therefore even in the choice of a wife he must 
bear in mind this important requisite of a ser- 
vant of Jesus Christ.' ' 

290. Give me Harnacfc s remark on this 
subject. 

Zockler, iv. 429. "All of a pastor's effi- 
ciency stands or falls with the manner of his 
own life and that of his household. \ The 
pfarrhaus is the light of the village, to which 
all look to see whether it burns clear and 



In the Community and at Home. 235 

gives light.' (Miiller, Die pastorale Seel- 
sorge } 1854.) Vita clericorum liber est lai- 
corum, or Vita clerici evangelium populi (cf. 
Braun, Die Bekehrung der Pastoren u. deren 
Bedeutung filr die Amtswirksamkeit y 1885). 
If the pastor's conversation be not genuinely 
spiritual, without affectation or pretense, his 
whole official activity will be tame, he will 
fall into an artificial spirituality (Col. 2 : 23), 
putting on a clerical air and an affected unc- 
tion. 'Let us keep our life clean,' says 
Harms, Pastoral Theol. 3 : 34, ' that we may 
be able to speak freely.' We cannot be to 
others what we are not to ourselves ; there 
must be no difference in us between the 
Christian, the pastor and the man. This can 
be only when in his inmost heart the pastor 
walks with God. His own heart dare not 
condemn him (1 John 3 : 21). Therefore he 
will put limits to his own freedom (1 Cot" 10 : 
23) and cannot lose himself in public life. He 
must concentrate himself upon his proper 






236 The Evangelical Pastor. 

calling, avoiding all attempts to do too much, 
even too much that is good — a fault to which 
our time offers so many temptations. He 
must not mix in foreign matters (1 Peter 4 : 
15), nor dare he let himself be controlled by 
the opinion of others. Therefore he needs 
publicity and his office gives him enough of 
it ; but he also needs quiet in which to collect 
himself. Nemo secure apparet, says Thomas 
a Kempis, Nisi qui libenter latet. ' He who 
does not go among the people will accom- 
plish little, because he does not know them 
and they do not know him. He who is to 
be found wherever anybody is, will not have 
the confidence of the people. From duty to 
the study ; from study to duty — that is the 
way of the pastor ; and necessarily, for he 
must first draw water who means to pour it. ' 
Lohe, Ev. GeistL 137." 

291. What advice is given by the Kursdchs 
KO. 1580 to a pastor' s wife and family ? 
1 Peter 3 : 3, 4. 



In the Community and at Home. 237 

292. Upon what points does the Saxon 
KO. 1539 (Justus Jonas) bid the Superin- 
tendent to examine pastors f 

1. " As to his doctrine and example. 

2. "What stand he takes with reference 
to the Church, with reference to the Sacra- 
ment, and to the other ceremonies ; whether 
he is a dumb dog that cannot bark, Is. 56 : 
10, and helps the people to hide their sins 
unrebuked. 

3. " How he rules over his own house. 

4. ' ' Whether he takes good care of the 
Alms Fund, and visits, comforts, and re- 
lieves the poor. 

5. "Whether the property that belongs 
to the parish is improving or not. 

6. ' ' What regard the parishioners have 
for their pastor, and whether the sins are 
found among them on account of which the 
wrath of God cometh on the children of diso- 
bedience/ ' 



238 The Evangelical Pastor. 

293. Does it 'make any difference how a 
minister dresses ? 

He should be careful that nothing in his 
appearance give offense, or excite surprise, 
pity, or even remark. 

See Saxon Gen. Artt. 1557. Also Wit- 
tenberg Consist. Ordnung, 1542 {Jonas) : 

' * The priests at mass during the commu- 
nion shall use the ordinary old Church vest- 
ment, and at other times they shall not wear 
fashionable, short, slashed, or embroidered 
motley, but decent clothes of one single 
color.' ' 

294.. Ought any one to be allowed in the 
holy ministry who has been guilty of grievous 
sin y but subsequently has repented ? 

Gerhard says : " The circumstances must 
be carefully and accurately weighed before 
decision in such a case. Necessity, let it be 
remembered, will sometimes require an ex- 
ception to be made. If fit ministers can be 
had, then those who have been guilty of seri- 









In the Community and at Home. 239 

ous faults are not to be chosen or called even 
if they have repented ; if not, then it is better 
to use these than to be without ministers." 
De Ministris EccL (Loc 23.) 277. 

295. Why should a pastor' s good name be 
of any consequence ? 

Luther says : ' ' The preachers and apos- 
tles lead the poor consciences to God ; this 
is done in three ways, by preaching, by a. 
good life and by intercession with God." 
{Frankfort ed. 13, p. 378. Sermon 12th S. 
after Trinity.} 

296. Is it enough for a pastor to avoid 
wro7igdoing ? 

He must avoid the appearance of evil. 
Therefore he must abstain from many " plea- 
sures," which he would not deny to others. 

29J. Ought he pray for his people ? 

Yes, daily ; and especially for the poor and 
the sick, and for those he knows to be in 
peril of body or soul. 



240 The Evangelical Pastor. 

Louis Harms : Sermon on Ep. 3d S. Ad- 
vent, Herzog, 5, 628 : " If L could carry all 
of you to the Lord Jesus and into Heaven in 
my own arms, then I am certain not one of 
you would be left outside ; and the Lord 
Himself who hears me knows that I pray for 
every one of you long after you have gone to 
bed." 

' ' A faithful pastor will hold intercession to 
be his first and weightiest duty : not merely 
occasional and general intercession, but a 
special and continual intercession according 
to the exigency. From this secret Seelsorge 
he derives power and wisdom, courage and 
endurance for his work under the eyes of his 
people. And out of this interceding patient 
love grows all-embracing fidelity, both sub- 
jective and objective, which has great prom- 
ise of reward (Matt. 25 : 21 ; Luke 12 : 42- 
44), a fidelity in the least things (Luke 16 : 
10 ; 19 : 17)." Harnack in Zockler, iv. 428. 



/;/ the Community and at Home. 241 

298. Is it right for a pastor to engage in 
secular business ? 

Only in extreme necessity. 
See Kursachs. Vis. Inst. 1527. 

299. Is it right for him " togo to taw" 
against another ? 

No. 

Beck p. 96. " It comes natural to men to 
defend their interests in matters of personal 
right, property, honor ; and in such matters 
the clergyman, as a pattern, should yield 
twice as often as his neighbor, and rather 
suffer wrong.' ' 



XVII. 
THE END OF THE PASTORATE. 

jpo. Has a pastor a right to leave his con- 
gregation for another ? 

It is clear that he may obey only the call 
of God through the Church. That he may 
be certified of this, the following rules may 
be observed : 

i. Let him not seek a call to another con- 
gregation, especially with a view to a higher 
salary or a pleasanter or more honorable po- 
sition. Jer. 23 : 21. 

2. Let him not leave his congregation be- 
cause of the bad people in it who embitter 
his life (Rom. 12 : 21) ; unless it be clear that 
their opposition to him is personal for some 
cause which he is unable to remove, and it is 
242 



The End of the Pastorate. 243 

probable that another pastor sound in the 
faith may be able to do more good among 
them. 2 Cor. 13 : 10. 

3. It should be clear that he goes to a 
more difficult position, in which, because of 
his peculiar gifts, he is likely to do more 
good than he can do where he is. 1 Cor. 
12 : 7. 

4. Let him not, decide without consulting 
his present congregation as well as the con- 
gregation calling him ; and he should also 
seek the advice of men eminent in the Church. 

5. He should not go unless his congrega- 
tion consent to his departure, except when it 
is clear that they do not consider the general 
welfare of the Church. 

301. Is it right for a pastor to resign his 
congregation to take a professorship in a 
school or college ? 

This he may do if it be clearly a call of 
God through his Church, a question which is 
to be decided by the rules given above. But 



244 The Evangelical Pastor. 

he should be slow to give up a work for 
which he perceives he has suitable gifts, and 
in which God has blessed him and his people. 

302. May a minister lay down his office ? 

To this Christian Kortholt answers : ' ' This 
question is answered in the negative by the 
orthodox theologians, who base their opin- 
ion (1) on the testimony of Holy Scripture, 
1 Cor. 7 : 20 ; Matt. 10 : 22 ; Luke 9 : 62. 

(2) On examples given in the Bible : the 
prophets and apostles did not forsake their 
office, but finished their course, 2 Tim. 4 : 7. 

(3) It is reasonable that, as it is forbidden to 
call one's self and intrude one-'s self into the 
ministry, so no minister is free of his own 
will to lay down his office and forsake it. ' ' 
{Pastor Fidelis, p. 62.) To this Deyling 
properly adds, " An exception must be made, 
for instance, if a minister sustains a loss of 
memory, or suffers with an incurable sick- 
ness, which renders him unable to discharge 
the duties of his office ; or in case of the irre- 



The End of the Pastorate. 245 

concilable hatred of his hearers or other per- 
secutors ; or if all material support is with- 
held from him, so that the poor minister is 
unable to maintain himself and his family." 
In this matter also the pastor should seek 
and obey the guidance of God. 



INDEXES. 



i. 

TOPICS. 

Associations in the Church, 159, 166, 192. 

Baptism valid, 85, %%, 89; Formula of, 85, 89; Mate- 
rial of, 86 ; Mode, 87 ; Rebaptism, %%, 89 ; When to 
be refused, 90; Sponsors, 91, 93; Monsters, 91 ; Re- 
cord of, 92 ; Sign of Cross, 92 ; Exorcism, 92 ; Lay- 
baptism, 95, 96; ought to be public, 96; unbaptized 
persons ought not to receive the Holy Supper, 117; 
Little children not to receive Holy Supper at Baptism, 
118; of Heretics, 89. 

Beginning of Pastorate, 39. 

Beichte, 187, see Preparation for the Holy Supper, 

Beichtvater, 134. 

Bishops, 162. 

Books; Church and School, 61; necessary for a pastor, 
20; Communion books, 99; Church Register, etc., 

73, 117. 

Breviary^ Evangelical, 37. 
246 



Indexes. 247 

Call, The, 47; necessity of, 48; use, 21, 51 ; tests, 51 ; 
not to be limited, 54 ss.; may not be refused, 59, 242. 

Catechisation, 116, 148, 221, 222; different ages, 151; 
introduction of, 151 ; preparation for, 151-156; pray- 
er before, 156. 

Communion of the Sick, 118, 135, 180, 188. 

Communion Books, 99. 

Confession, see Preparation for the Holy Supper. 

Confirmation, 146; History of, 146; object, 147; order, 
147; preparation for, 148; proper age, 149; public or 
private, 150; time, 150; and Baptism, 150; how to 
keep those who have been Confirmed, 158. 

Congregational Life, 165; means of furthering, 166; 
rights of congregation, 210; reforms in, 60. 

Collection of Money, 224 ; true principle of Christian 
giving, 224; worldly methods, 225; right method, 225. 

Contumacy ^ 218. 

Criminals, 196. 

Debt, 73. 

Discipline, 115, 199, 203; salutary but not essential, 204 ; 
right method, 207 ss.; objects of it, 216; not to be 
hasty, 218, 219. 

Dismissals, 200, 203. 

Divorce, see Marriage. 

Dress, 238. 

Dying, The, 193. 



248 The Evangelical Pastor. 

Excommunication, see Discipline. 

Excommunicate persons not entitled to Christian burial, 
197 ; sentence of other congregations, 201, 205 ; must 
be by congregation, 210; not for an old offense, 216 ; 
should be unanimous, 217 ; effect, 219. 

Exchange of Pulpits, 230. 

Experience, Value of, 42, 43. 

Fallen Women, 177. 

Holy Supper. Preparation for, 99-121, 149; Beichte, 
100 ; Roman Auricular Confession, 101 ; B. not com- 
pulsory, 102 ; History of Beichte, 105 ; Character of 
Examination, 114; Pastor's responsibility, 115, 118; 
Absolution, 117; unworthy communicants, 118, 121. 

Marks of Validity, 122, 126. 

Consecration of, 123-126; 129; necessary, 130. 

May in a case of necessity be administered by a 

layman, 126, 127. 

Distribution, 128; Formula of, 128; Manner, 131. 

Of the Sick, 118, 135, 

What is to be done with bread and wine left over, 
132; who may be present, 133 ; how often to be re- 
ceived, 133; pastor may communicate himself, 134; 
in what sense necessary, 136. 

Home Worship, 180. 

Houses of Reformation, 177. 

Hymns, 148. 



Indexes. 249 



Idiots, 118. 

Mind diseased, 176, 190. 

Marriage, 138; Minister's duty in reference to, 138; 

laws of the State, 138, 9; forbidden degrees, 139, 140; 

consent of parents, 141 ; force of a betrothal, 141 ; 

mixed marriages, 141, 2; polygamy, 142; banns, 142; 

tempora clatisa, 143 ; who should marry a couple, 143 ; 

Golden Wedding, 143 ; Divorce, 143; Desertion, 144; 

Weddings, 227. 
Law and Gospel, 78. 
Life of Pastor, 232. 
Opposition in Congregations, 242, 245. 
Oratio, 35. 

Ordination, 63, 126; not absolute, 65 ; not to be repeat- 
ed, 67 ; installation, 67. 
Other Pastors, 181, 200, 222. 
Other Communions, 24, 26, 200, 203. 
Other Congregations, 201, 203. 
Parsonage, 62. 
Pastoral Office, 35. 
Pastoral Theology, 17, 19, 26, ^. 
Pastoral Visitation, 116. 

Poor, 177, 180, 190, 191 ; organization for, 192. 
Prayer, 35 ; rules for, 36; times, 36; forms, 36 ss., 39, 

45 > 75 ; for tne people, 239. 



250 The Evangelical Pastor. 

Prisoners, 175, 190, 196. 
Professorships, 243. 

Reception of Members, 200, 201 ss. 
Reconciliation of a Penitent, 215, 220. 
Reforms in Congregation, 60. 
Register and Church Books, 73, 117. 
Roman Catholics, 203. 

Seelsorge, 159, 170. 

Sermon, Introductory, 68 ; prayers before, 75 ; written, 

77; requisites of, 78-84, 166. 
Sick, 169, 180, 181, 182; Contagious disease, 182; rules 

for visiting, 183; Communion of, 118, 135. 
Socialism, 179. 
State, 138, 139, 143. 
Study, 43 ; secular learning, 44; most necessary books, 

44 ; hours, 45 ; rules, 45 . 
Sunday Schools, 148, 151, 158, 176, 221, 222. 
Support of Minister, 61. 
Synod, 222. 

Tact, 18, 19. 
Talebearers, 209. 
Tentatio, 42. 

" Union Services," 20, 232, 233. 
Vacations. 230. 



Indexes. 251 

Visitation, a duty, 161 ; varieties of people, 164, 166; 
at beginning, 71 ; once objected to,. 168; pastor or 
preacher? 169; use of, 169, 181; cautions, 169; to 
be systematic, 170; preparation for, 171; object of, 
172; of sick and needy, 174; of obdurate, 181. 

Wafer-bread, 123, 132. 
Weddings, 227. 
Worldly Business, 241. 

Youth, how to retain the young, 158; societies among, 
159; amusements of, 159. 



2. 

PASSAGES OF SCRIPTURE CITED. 

Gen. II: 4 — 166. Psalm 34 : 8 — 71 

Exodus 3 — 49. . 68 : 1 1 — 54 * 

20: 8-1 1 — 49 82: — 48 

24: 8 — 87 101 : 6,7 — 234 

Num. 18: 1-20 — 139 119: — 35 

20: 10-23—139 Prov. 15: II — 213 

Deut. 27 : 20-23 — 1 39 Isaiah 6: 8 — 53 

34: 9 — 64 40: 2— 70 

I Sam. 2 — 234 : 11 — 160 

25: 36,37—213 41: 27— 54 



252 



The Evangelical Pastor. 



Isaiah 52: 8— 161 


Matt. 18: 18— *io6, 206 


56: 10—237 


: 22—215 


Jeremiah 6: 17 — 161 


23: 8—55 


J 5 : 19— 54 


25 : 14-30—224 


23 : 21 — 48, 126, 242 


: 21 —240 


: 28—78 


: 31-46—224 


31 : 10 — 160 


Mark 7 : 4—87 


Ezekiel3: 17-21 — 80 


Luke 9 : 4, 5 — 56 


37: 24 —160 


: 62 —244 


Hosea 4 : 6—54 


10: 16 — * 56 


Joel 3: 17—208 


12; 42 —82 


Sir. 22: 6 — 213 


: 42-44 — 240 


Matthew 4 : 3-6 — 202 


16: 10 — 240 


5: 23,24—121 


18: 18-23—224 


7 : 6 — 106, 202 


19: 17 —240 


9- 35>3 6 — J 6o 


John 10 —160 


* 37, 38- 48 


10: 12 —183 


10: 14 — 171 


17 : 20, 21 — 69 


: 22 — ^244 


20: 22, 23— *-io6 


: 30 —183 


: 23 —206 


• 32, 33—202 


21: 15-17—155,160 


: 38, 39—225 


Acts 6: iss — 191 


14: 3,4 —139 


it : 30-^191 


16: 3 — 82 


12: 25 — 191 


: 19 —106 


13- 2 — 54 


18: 15-17—207,208,217 


20 : 20, 26, 27—8I 



Indexes. 



253 



Acts 20: 20,31 — 162, 191 


1 Cor. 5: 9-13 


— 202 


: 28—48,54,162,233 


: 11 


— 216 


22: 16 — 87 




: 17 


—139 


23: 13,14—213 




7 : 20 


—244 


24: 17 — 191 




10: 


—130 


: 24,25—163 




10: 2 


- 87 


26: 22 — 78 




: 23 


—235 


: 22-29 — 69 




12 ; 7 


—243 


Romans 1 : 16, 17 — 68 




: 10 


-165 


9 : 20-22 — 61 




: 13 


— 202 


10: 15 — 48, 126 




: 28, 29 


—48, 54 


n : 25,26 — 104, 123 




14: 40 - 


—-48, 126 


: 28 — 100 




16 ; 2 


—225 


12: 7 — 78,231 




: 15,16 


- 56 


: 8, 13—191 


2 Cor. 1 : 24 


— 68 


: 21 — 242 




3: 6 


— 35 


15:4 —81 




4: 5,6 


— 68 


• 2 9-33— 68 




5: 9-21 


— 7o 


16: 17 — 216 




: 17-21 — 69 


1 Cor. 1 : 21-25 — 68 




6: 3 


—234 


2:1-5 — 68 




: 14-1 


8—202 


3: 1, 2 — 82 




8: 


— 224 


4: 1—35,36,232 




9: 7 


—226 


: 1, 2—68 




13 : 10 


— 242 


5: 1,2, 13— 211 


Gal. 


2 : 4, 5 — 202 


: 3-5 —204 


Eph 


.4: 11—48, 54, 161 



254 



The Evangelical Pastor. 



Eph. 5 : 25, 26 — 202 
Col. 2 : 23—235 
1 : 20 — 191 

1 Thess. 2 : 2 — 191 

: 10 — 162 
: 13— 69 

4 : 11, 12 — 191 

5 : 12, 13— 56 

2 Thess. 3 : 9-1 1 — 216 

: 14 — 206 
I Tim. 1 : 20 — 206 

3:i — 53 
: 1-10— 234 
: 2 —233 
: 4, 5 —234 

4:14 — 64 
: 16 — 56,233 

5:2 — 52 
: 10 — 191 
: 17 — 56 
: 22 — 65 



2 Tim. 1 : 8 —202 
: 16 — 64 
2 : 15 —165, 186 
4 : 2, 3— 55 
: 7 — 2 44 
Hebrews 5 : 4, 5 — 4& 
: 11 —82 
6 : 2 —82 
9 : 19 —87 
13: 17 —56,161 
: 22 — 87 
James 1 ; 5, 6 — 165 
: 27 — 191 
5': 14 —182 
1 Peter 3 : 3, 4—236 
4: 11 — 78 
: 15 —236 
5 : 1-4 — 56, 234 
: 2 — 162 

1 John 3 : 21—235 

2 John 10, 11 — 202 



Indexes. 255 



CITATIONS OF THE CONFESSIONS. 

Augsburg Confession, 60, 100, no, 113, 202, 206. 
Apology, no, 206. 

Small Catechism, 101, no, 134, 148, 149. 
Large Catechism, 102, no, 115, 208. 
Schmalkald Articles, 101, no, 206, 21 1. 
Formula of Concord, 130. 



4. 

CITATIONS OF THE KIRCHEN- 
ORDNUNGEN. 

1527. Instruction for Visitators in Saxony, 241. 

1528. Saxon Visitation Articles, 96, 103, 146. 
1528. Brunswick (Bugenhagen) 102, 180. 

1 53 1. Lubeck, 95. 

1531. Goslar, 93, 134. 

1533. Brand enburg-Nurnberg, 117, 189. 

1536. Wuertemberg, 189. 

1539. Saxon, 96, 102, 146, 237. 

1542. Wittenberg Consistorial-Ordnung, 237. 

1542. Book of Common Prayer, Edward VI., 131. 

1543. Reformation of Cologne, 147. 

1557. Saxon General Articles, 91, 115, 142, 197, 236. 
1580. Kursachsen, 82, 91, 93, 115, 119, 149, 180, 197, 

236. 
1658. Hesse, 147. 



256 



The Evangelical Pastor. 



5. 
AUTHORS CITED. 



Amsdorf, 115, 134 

Anselm, 194 

Aquinas, 109 

Augustine, 106, 204 

Barb, 147 

Basch, 69 

Beck, 73, 80, 160, 165, 

210, 240 
Braun, 235 
Brunnemann, 115 
Burger, 160 
Chemnitz, 49, 114, 124, 

126,133, 135 
Chrysostom, 115, 162 
Clement VI., 109 
Cyprian, 106 
Deyling, 128, 161, 244 
Dieffenbach and Mueller, 

37, 75. 97, 98, 156 
Dietrich, Veit, 146 
Dittelmair, 69 
Eugene IV., 109 
Fecht, 128 
Francke, 53, 
Fresenius, 69 
Gerhard, 66, 67, 86, 95, 

115, 125,238 
Groszbauer, 112 
Goeze, 69 

Gregory the Great, 106 
Hales, Alex., 109 
Harms, 235 
Harms, Louis, 240 
Harnack, 106, 165, 166, 

234, 240 



Hartmann, 58, 63, 65, 67, 
89, 115, 119, 135, 
136, 137,164,181,211 

Herzog, 89, 159 

Innocent III., 107 

Jonas, 237, 238 

aKempis, 236 

Kliefoth, 106 

Kortholt, 244 

Kromayer, 57 

Leo the Great, 106 

Loehe, 236 

Loy, 65, 66, 67 

Luther, 42, 43, 46, 48, 51, 
52, 62, 75, 78, 80, 102, 
103, 104, 109,112,115, 
119,137,183,187, 189, 
204, 207, 211 

Muller, Heinr., 112 

Miiller, 234 

Musaeus, 164 

Mylius, 65 

Olearius, 184, 185 

Osiander, And., in 

Philippi, 125 

Quenstedt, 77 

Saubertus, 115 

Schmucker, B. M., 147 

Seidel, 129, 151, 182 

Spener, 70, 112 

Tarnov, 115 

Tertullian, 127, 166 

Walt her, passim 

Wilberforce, Sam'l. 170 

Wittenberg Theologians, 60, 

Zockler, 102, 106. [112,135 



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